The South Korean antitrust body is seeking to revise the law to allow anyone to file charges against franchises, retailers and agencies and to impose tougher punitive measures on antitrust behavior.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in a report released on Sunday called for phasing out its exclusive right to file a complaint on trade violations, starting with the three sectors of franchises, retailers and agencies.

Under the current law, the FTC is the only entity that can bring a fair trade case to court. The law was designed to prevent a wave of lawsuits being filed against companies by individuals and civic groups.

The regulator is also mulling punitive compensation of up to 10 times the initial amount for price fixing, economic retaliation and other antitrust practices.

The FTC plans to submit the report to the National Assembly to serve as reference in the assessment of related laws in regular sessions.

By Seok Min-soo and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]