Car version allows Airbnb… rents my car and earns pocket money

Businesses of renting a vehicle owned by individuals or transporting patients and earning profits become possible. It’s a car version of Airbnb, a lodging sharing service, and new business opportunities have been opened up as the government overhauls related regulations.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and ICT (Ministry of Science and Technology) held a new technology and service deliberation committee (deliberation committee) at the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 7th and made such a decision. The deliberation committee approved a special case for demonstration that Towns, a car-sharing service company, applied for that day. The empirical special case is a system in which existing regulations are not applied in a limited area, period, or scale to test and verify the safety of new products or services.

Towns introduced a car rental brokerage platform (town car) in which residents living in an apartment/officetel complex rent vehicles to each other and earn profits. If you want to rent your car here, you need to register as a rental company.

However, according to the current laws and regulations, a person who owns one or two cars cannot run a car rental (rental car) business. The passenger vehicle transportation business stipulates the minimum registration requirement for the rental car business to be 50 or more. There are also regulations that require car rental companies to secure separate offices. It was not clear whether the proof of parking lot, which is one of the report documents that car rental companies should have, could be replaced with the confirmation of apartment occupancy.

While Korea is bound by regulations, services for renting vehicles for individuals are spreading in the United States (Turo) and Australia (Carnextdoor). The deliberation committee gave a special case for demonstration on the day, saying, “We can expect to expand the mobility of people living in new cities with insufficient infrastructure and relieve traffic and parking difficulties.” Towns plans to start a town car demonstration in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do soon.

Mobility services applied by three companies, including Healing Care, which sells mobility aids, and Nets Mobility and Maven Plus, which provide hospital transfer services, were also approved for special demonstrations.

The elderly, disabled, and severely ill people with limited mobility have to visit the hospital frequently, but transportation is insufficient. For example, in the case of a patient who rides an electric wheelchair weighing about 100 kg, it is difficult to visit a hospital with a wheelchair. Patients who have to lie down and move to and from the hospital are also difficult without an ambulance.

The company that requested the demonstration this time is a company that has a special vehicle that can carry a person in a wheelchair or provides a service to accompany a patient in a hospital. Currently, however, private companies cannot get paid for providing these services. Under the Passenger Vehicle Transportation Business Act, only the national and local governments can use a private vehicle to receive money and transport the underprivileged.

The Deliberation Committee said, “It is expected to improve transportation convenience for the elderly and the disabled, and it is necessary to demonstrate whether the private sector can efficiently provide services for the weak.” The hospital transfer service will be piloted in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. Based on the empirical results, consultations are conducted with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for deregulation.

Kim Won-jong, CEO of Nets Mobility, said, “There are cases where there is no suitable means of transportation for people with reduced mobility, and it is difficult for guardians who are engaged in living to accompany them to medical treatment every time.” “With this special case, we are able to launch a new service.” Said.

In addition, the Deliberation Committee approved special cases for demonstration of a service to check the age of adolescents and a game service for exchanging prizes. Tae-hee Woo, full-time vice chairman of the Daehan Sangsang, said, “The task that passed the deliberation committee today is an opportunity to experiment with the promotion of various social values, from solving the local traffic crisis to mobility innovation.”

Reporter Moon Hee-cheol [email protected]