The head of the Fair Trade Commission(FTC) has stressed the need to enact a bill promoting fair transactions between online platform operators and online sellers, as well as a bill strengthening the rights and interests of consumers. 

Joh Sung-wook made the remark on Friday during a meeting of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea, saying that concerns are growing over the side effects of such platforms. 

She said though platforms have provided new market opportunities to online sellers, there are concerns of unfair transactions. She also said while platforms have provided more options to consumers, cases of consumer damage are also on the rise. 

The two bills that Joh mentioned are currently pending in the National Assembly. 

The bill on promoting fair trade between online platform operators and online sellers aims to slap a fine of up to one billion won on some 30 big domestic and foreign platforms that operate in the country if they engage in unfair transactions. 

The bill on strengthening the rights and interests of consumers seeks to hold platform operators accountable for consumer damage resulting from intentional error and to have operators accurately provide consumers information on search results and personalized ads.