Homeplus fined $2m for passing promotion costs to suppliers

Its supermarket unit had made its suppliers shoulder costs worth $1.42m.

South Korea's antitrust regulator has fined discount store chain Homeplus $2m (KRW2.42b) for unfairly passing on sales promotion costs to its subcontractors, Yonhap reported.

Homeplus Express, a supermarket unit of Homeplus, made 45 suppliers shoulder the costs worth around $1.42m (KRW1.7b) in 2017-2020 without related prior contracts, according to the Fair Trade Commission.

The regulator said it will closely look into alleged unfair business practice by other retailers.

The total number of affiliates on the FTC watch list reached 2,738 as of end-January, compared with 2,704 three months earlier, the commission said earlier this month.