E-Land Group leads in delayed subcontractor payments, FTC to increase scrutiny

E-Land Group has been identified as the corporate group with the highest percentage of delayed subcontractor payments, exceeding the legal 60-day payment period in the latter half of last year. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced the findings from its review of payment conditions for 1,417 businesses across 92 corporate groups.

According to the FTC's disclosure, E-Land Group's delayed payment rate stood at 14.02%, followed by Daebang Construction at 10.11% and SM Group at 5.4%. The total amount of payments delayed beyond 60 days across all surveyed companies was 138.9 billion won, representing 0.16% of the total payments.

Under the Subcontracting Fair Transaction Act, prime contractors must pay subcontractors within 60 days of receiving goods or services. Payments exceeding this period incur late interest charges. E-Land Group has consistently ranked among the top three for delayed payments since the second half of 2023, with its delayed payment ratio fluctuating between 5.13% and 14.02% in recent reporting periods.

In contrast, the majority of companies adhere to the legal timeframe, with most payments made within 30 days. Last year's data showed that 86.41% of payments were made within 30 days, and 66.82% were settled within 15 days. Cash payment ratios averaged 84.71%, and near-cash payment ratios averaged 98.35%.

The FTC plans to intensify its monitoring of companies with substantial overdue payments, focusing on those within corporate groups that reported significant delays. This includes additional checks on whether subcontractor payments and late interest are being properly disbursed. The commission also noted that three companies, VoiceRoo and StudioOnePick (Kakao affiliates) and OnePool (SK affiliate), were fined 4 million won each for failing to disclose their subcontract payment conditions.

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We plan to closely monitor unfair practices related to subcontract payments, including additional checks on whether subcontract payments and late interest are being paid to companies within the disclosed corporate groups that showed a large amount of subcontract payments exceeding 60 days.