South Korea's antitrust regulatory institutions announced on Wednesday that they have decided to impose a fine of 72.4 billion Korean won (approximately 54.82 million U.S. dollars) on Kakao Mobility, a online car-hailing service company under Kakao Group, for allegedly requiring competitors' taxi franchise operation operators to sign cooperation agreements, and preventing them from using Kakao's taxi service Kakao T when they refuse this request.

It is reported that Kakao has requested four smaller competitors, including Uber, Banban Taxi, Macaron Taxi, and Tada, to sign cooperation agreements.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission stated that if rejected, Kakao will prohibit drivers associated with competitors from using Kakao T, and prohibit them from accepting non-franchise ride requests, which violates the Fair Trade Act.

"Due to this practice, most of its competitors have left the market. This action hinders fair competition and affects the choice of service by taxi drivers and customers," the regulatory institution stated in a press release.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has also referred Kakao Mobility to the prosecution for investigation.