Under what conditions may a business refer a consumer's damage-relief application to the Korea Consumer Agency instead of settling it itself?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the application the consumer filed with the business and the date it was received, since the first case turns on the period that has passed from that receipt without agreement. We also look for any agreement with the consumer to refer the matter and, in the third case, the ground the Presidential Decree provides.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading restricts the business's power to refer: having received a damage-relief application from the consumer, the business may refer it to the Korea Consumer Agency only where one of the listed cases applies, namely that the period the provision sets has passed without agreement, that the consumer has agreed to referral, or that a ground set by Presidential Decree is present.
Another reading notices the word 'may': the provision lets a business refer, it does not oblige it to, so referral is a permission the business holds, and the consumer's own route to the Agency stands independently. The third case in turn rests on a reason the Presidential Decree states, which this provision does not itself name.
Your judgment
If the business refers the matter, what in the file would show which of the listed cases it relied on and when it arose?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to add a case for referral or to change the period it sets, if the Presidential Decree names a new reason under the third case, or if a court decision construes what counts as agreement to refer.