ENFORCEMENT DECREE OF THE ISSUANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRONIC BILLS ACT
Presidential Decree No. 18637, Dec. 31, 2004
Amended by Presidential Decree No. 19422, Mar. 29, 2006
Presidential Decree No. 19507, jun. 12, 2006
Presidential Decree No. 20229, Aug. 17, 2007
Presidential Decree No. 20674, Feb. 29, 2008
Presidential Decree No. 20947, Jul. 29, 2008
Presidential Decree No. 21214, Dec. 31, 2008
Presidential Decree No. 22151, May 4, 2010
Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012
Presidential Decree No. 24415, Mar. 23, 2013
Presidential Decree No. 25050, Dec. 30, 2013
Presidential Decree No. 25064, Jan. 7, 2014
Presidential Decree No. 25532, Aug. 6, 2014
Presidential Decree No. 27751, Dec. 30, 2016
Presidential Decree No. 28211, Jul. 26, 2017
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 2 (Scope of Financial Institutions) |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 3 (Designation Requirements for Electronic Bill Management Agency) |
Designation requirements for an electronic bill management agency prescribed in Article 3 (2) 2 of the Act (hereinafter referred to as a “management agency) shall be as follows: <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 24415, Mar. 23, 2013; Presidential Decree No. 28211, Jul. 26, 2017> | 1. | Technical capability: the total number of technical staff members falling under each of the following items shall be at least ten: |
| (a) | At least one person who has either a national technical qualification at least equal to an engineer information communication, engineer information processing or engineer computer system application, or any qualification which the Minister of Science and ICT recognizes to be at least equal to the any of the above-mentioned national technical qualifications; |
| (b) | At least one person who has at least two years' work experience in any such field of information protection or information communication operation and management as determined and publicly announced by the Minister of Science and ICT; |
| (d) | At least one person who has at least three years' work experience as a certified accountant or in financial affairs or credit analysis affairs; |
| 2. | Financial capability: to hold at least ten billion won in net assets (referring to the value calculated by deducting the debts from the total assets): |
| 3. | Facilities and equipment: to hold the following facilities and equipment: |
| (a) | Facilities and equipment which enable users to exercise rights such as the registration, issuance, endorsement, guarantee, presentation for payment, payment, and refusal of payment of electronic bills, and the verification of certificates for refusal of payment of electronic bills; |
| (b) | Facilities and equipment which make it possible to request reimbursement of, return, or refuse to accept, electronic bills; |
| (c) | Facilities and equipment which make it possible to verify the transmission and receipt dates of electronic bills, and draw and record transactions of electronic bills; |
| (d) | Protective facilities and equipment necessary for safely operating facilities and equipments related to the issuance and distribution of electronic bills; |
| (e) | Other facilities and equipments deemed necessary to facilitate safely transacting electronic bills and publicly announced by the Minister of Justice; |
| 4. | Regulations of the management agency which prescribe procedures and methods to manage and operate the facilities and equipments prescribed in each item of subparagraph 3. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 4 (Designation Procedures for Management Agencies) |
| (1) | A person who intends to be designated as a management agency in accordance with Article 3 (2) of the Act shall file an application for designation with the Minister of Justice, attaching each of the following documents. In such cases, the Minister of Justice shall verify the corporate registration certificate and copies of the resident registration cards of the representative and executive officers of the corporation through data matching of administrative information prescribed in Article 36 (1) of the Electronic Government Act, and, where the applicant declines to consent to the verification of the copies of resident registration cards of the representative and executive officers of the corporation, he/she shall request the applicant to attach those documents: |
| 1. | Articles of corporation; |
| 2. | Documents verifying the holding of technical capability, financial capability, facilities and equipment and other necessary requirements prescribed in each subparagraph of Article 3; |
| 4. | Documents verifying the fact of execution of a contract concerning the use of facilities and equipment and the details thereof, where concluding such contract with an operator of electronic bill technology assistance business in accordance with Article 12 (4). |
| (2) | If deemed necessary for examination for the designation of a management agency, the Minister of Justice may require the applicant to submit materials or hear the applicant’s opinion. |
| (3) | The Minister of Justice shall, where he/she has designated a management agency, issue a designation certificate and publicly announce the details and fact of such designation, as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 5 (Registration, etc. of Electronic Bills) |
| (2) | A management agency may limit the issuance ceiling of an electronic bill, taking into comprehensive account the opinion of a credit rating institution or the financial institution which has concluded the contract for a checking account, as well as the annual turnover, capital stock, credit rating, current account transactions record, etc. of the issuer. |
| (3) | A management agency may refuse to make a registration for an electronic bill for its issuance for any of the following persons: |
| 1. | A person in receipt of a disposition for suspension of transactions (referring to a disposition by a management agency either to refuse a person who intends to issue an electronic bill anew to register the electronic bill or to prohibit the issuance of an electronic bill of the issuer who has already registered it; hereinafter the same shall apply) from a management agency or bill exchange, and is still under the suspension of transactions; |
| 3. | Other persons prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice, who have impaired his/her own credit with respect to transactions with financial institutions. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 6 (Registration of Users other than Issuers) |
| (1) | Where issuing an electronic bill, an issuer shall have a person who will accept the electronic bill register it with a management agency: Provided, That this shall not apply where the intended recipient of the electronic bill has made a registration prescribed in Article 5 (hereinafter referred to as an “ issuer’s registration”). |
| (2) | Matters to be registered in accordance with the main sentence of paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as an “acceptor’s registration”) shall be the name, business registration number or resident registration number, and address of the intended recipient of an electronic bill. |
| (3) | No management agency shall refuse an acceptor’s request for registration, and shall allow a person who has registered an acceptor to make an endorsement by using the information processing system of the management agency or to present an electronic bill for payment. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 7 (Management of Information Processing System) |
| (1) | In order to prevent any person, other than who registered the issuer’s or acceptor’s electronic bill, from committing any act related to electronic bill by using the name of the person who has made a registration without authorization, a management agency shall provide the devices by means of which a person who has made such registration is able to exclusively commit any act related to electronic bill in conformity with the kind of registration. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 8 (Identity, etc, of Registered Bills) |
| (1) | A management agency shall determine a uniform format in respect of electronic bills to be used by the users. |
| (2) | An electronic bill shall contain devices to prevent manufacturing a duplicate or copy thereof, and, in cases of having been issued and endorsed, an electronic bill shall be extinguished in the information processing system of its issuer or endorser, or include on it the statement to the effect that it has already been issued or endorsed. |
| (3) | Where a holder of an electronic bill has transmitted an electronic bill to a paying financial institution, for presentation for payment, in accordance with Article 9 of the Act, the electronic bill shall not be extinguished in the holder’s information processing system and shall include on it a statement to the effect that such transmission has been made for presentation for payment. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 8-2 (Corporate Business Entities Obliged to Issue Electronic Bills) |
“Corporate business entity which meets the business entity whose total amount of assets, etc., as at the end of the immediately previous business year meets the standards prescribed by Presidential Decree” referred to in Article 6-2 of the Act means a corporate business entity whose total amount of assets, etc. as at the end of the immediately previous business year is at least one billion won. [This Article Newly Inserted by Presidential Decree No. 25064, Jan. 7, 2014]
| Article 8-3 (Partial Endorsement of Electronic Bills) |
Where an endorser allocates numbers to several electronic bills after splitting an electronic bill in accordance with Article 7-2 (4) of the Act, such endorser shall allocate a different number, which indicates matters concerning the relevant split, to each electronic bill, by using the information processing system of a relevant management agency. [This Article Newly Inserted by Presidential Decree No. 25064, Jan. 7, 2014]
| Article 9 (Payment of Electronic Bills) |
| (1) | A management agency shall hold a device by means of which the statement indicating the completion of payment is made on an electronic bill preserved by the holder, simultaneous with a financial institution accepting a bill payment in accordance with Article 9 (3) of the Act accepts it. |
| (2) | A management agency shall transmit the electronic bill indicating the statement prescribed in paragraph (1) to its issuer. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 10 (Payment Refusal) |
| (1) | An electronic document of payment refusal prescribed in Article 12 (1) of the Act shall be drafted, so that the statements are made, in a blank space of the electronic bill which is transmitted for presentation of payment in accordance with Article 8 (3), the statements are made, indicating the fact that its payment has been refused, or shall be drafted as a separate document that constitutes an integral part of the electronic bill. |
| (2) | Where a management agency is notified of an electronic document of payment refusal prescribed in Article 12 (2) of the Act, it shall verify whether the holder of an electronic bill has duly presented the electronic bill, for payment, to the financial institution, and, where verifying the refusal of payment, the management agency shall make statements, in a blank space of the electronic bill for presentation for payment, indicating that it has verified the refusal of payment, and shall then immediately transmit that electronic bill to the holder. |
| (3) | A management agency shall, in cases of transmitting an electronic bill for presentation for payment the payment of which has been refused in accordance with paragraph (2), make the original of that electronic bill be extinguished. In such cases, the electronic bill for presentation for payment, the payment of which has been refused, shall be deemed the original electronic bill. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 11 (Return, and Acceptance Refusal of Electronic Bills) |
| (1) | Where the holder of an electronic bill completes such form for return of an electronic bill as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice and then notifies a management agency thereof, the management agency shall delete the issuance or endorsement record of such electronic bill. |
| (2) | Where the recipient of an electronic bill completes such form for acceptance refusal of an electronic bill, as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice, and then notifies a management agency thereof, the recipient shall be deemed not to have received the electronic bill. In such cases, the management agency shall, in receipt of the application of the receiver, issue, in a form prescribed by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice, a certificate indicating that the recipient has refused the electronic bill. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 12 (Standards for Ensuring Safety Applicable to Management Agencies) |
| (1) | A management agency shall ensure that the users of electronic bills can transact electronic bills safely by using its information processing system. |
| (2) | A management agency shall be equipped with those referred to in each subparagraph of Article 3 to ensure the safety of transactions of electronic bills. |
| (3) | Where a management agency intends to change any matter falling under any of the subparagraphs of Article 3 (including cases of disposing of facilities and equipment prescribed in the subparagraph 3 of Article 3 or diverting them for other business), it shall immediately report on such fact with the Minister of Justice. In such cases, the Minister of Justice may inspect the technical capability, financial capability, safe operation of facilities and equipments, and other matters related to such management agency. |
| (4) | A management agency may conclude a contract for using facilities and equipment prescribed in the subparagraph 3 of Article 3 with a person in possession of, or holds rights to, the relevant facilities and equipment. In such cases, the management agency shall be deemed to hold those facilities and equipment prescribed in subparagraph 3 of Article 3. |
| (5) | Matters to be observed by a person who concludes a contract for using facilities and equipment with a management agency in accordance with paragraph (4) (hereinafter referred to as “entity of electronic bills technology assistance business), and other matters necessary for the term of a contract for using facilities and equipment shall be prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 13 (Preservation of Electronic Bills, etc.) |
| (1) | The types of records to be preserved by a management agency in accordance with Article 16 (2) of the Act and their respective preservation periods shall be as follows: |
| 1. | Document concerning registration of electronic bills prescribed in Article 5 (1) of the Act: ten years from the date the issuer cancels its registration; |
| 2. | Electronic bill which has been paid: five years from the date when it is paid: Provided, That where the issuer requires it to be preserved for ten years, the period for preservation thereof shall be ten years, and where it is preserved in compliance with the issuer’s requirement, the costs incurred from the preservation made for subsequent years after the first five years shall be borne by the issuer; |
| 3. | Electronic bill, which is not paid: a period until the date of the final and conclusive judgement concerning the relevant electronic bill (three years from the issuance date of the relevant electronic bill, where no litigation is initiated with regard thereto). |
| (2) | The records prescribed in paragraph (1) shall be preserved by using devices to prevent forgery or alteration there, and the same records shall be preserved in at least two places. In such cases, the preservation of any of such records may be entrusted to a third party. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 14 (Provision, etc. of Transaction Information on Electronic Bills) |
| (1) | The users entitled to request a management agency to provide information in accordance with Article 17 (1) of the Act shall be limited to the persons who hold an electronic bill or the persons who have obtained permission of the issuer. |
| (2) | The information, the provision of which can be requested by the holders of an electronic bill, shall be as follows: |
| 1. | Authenticity of the electronic bill held by the holder; |
| 2. | Whether the issuer of the electronic bill held by the holder has refused payment during recent three years; |
| (3) | The information which can be requested by a person permitted by the bill issuer, shall be the information falling within the scope that the bill issuer has made a notification to the management agency. |
| (4) | A management agency may, where the issuer consents thereto, provide the holder with information on the issuer’s issuance limit of electronic bills and total issuance amount of electronic bills in circulation, and other matters. |
| (5) | The phrase “cases prescribed by Presidential Decree” referred to in Article 17 (3) of the Act, means any of the following cases: |
| (6) | A management agency shall, where any issuer has received a disposition for business suspension, notify the users of all electronic bills issued by the issuer of the fact and shall publicly announce matters concerning the issuers under the disposition of business suspension, at the Web-site, etc. of the management agency. |
| (7) | A management agency may, in receipt of an application from a financial institution which has made a payment, or the issuer, etc., allow the inspection of the electronic bills handled by that management agency or provide a copy thereof. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 15 (Terms and Conditions of Electronic Bill Transactions) |
| (1) | A management agency shall ensure that users, prior to the conclusion of an agreement for using an electronic bill, can easily ascertain the details of the agreement and also can print and copy such agreement. |
| (2) | The issuance and explanation of the terms and conditions prescribed in Article 18 (1) may be made by electronic document: Provided, that where a management agency has arranged so that the user can ascertain the details of the terms and conditions when drafting an electronic document for registration in accordance with Articles 5 and 6, the issuance and explanation of the terms and conditions shall be deemed to have been made. |
| (3) | Each of the following matters shall be specifically clarified in the terms and conditions: |
| 1. | Usage fees to be collected by the management agency from the users; |
| 2. | Detailed matters concerning the registration of an electronic bill prescribed in Article 5. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 16 (Complaint Filing and Dispute Settlement) |
| (1) | A management agency shall be equipped with the devices by which the user of an electronic bill printed out by the user, can file a complaint prescribed in Article 19 (1) of the Act by means of an electronic document, and shall specify in such devices the deadline for settlement of complaints, and the notification methods for the results of settlement. |
| (2) | A management agency shall take action so that the user can verify the terms and conditions prescribed in Article 18 of the Act when printing out the electronic bill. |
| (3) | A management agency shall establish and operate the Conciliation Committee on Disputes regarding Electronic Bills to reflect the just opinions and complaints raised by the users and deliberate on matters concerning compensation for the damage suffered by the users in the course of transacting electronic bills. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 17 (Organization, etc. of Conciliation Committee on Disputes regarding Electronic Bills) |
| (1) | The Conciliation Committee on Disputes regarding Electronic Bills prescribed in Article 16 (3) (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) shall be comprised of at least five but not exceeding ten members, including one Chairperson. |
| (2) | The members shall be appointed or commissioned by the Minister of Justice from among any of the following persons: |
| 1. | A current or former vice processor or higher or in any position at least equivalent to a vice processor, at a university/college or research institute, majoring in jurisprudence or economics; |
| 2. | A current or former judge, prosecutor, or attorney-at-law for at least five years; |
| 3. | Persons who have at least ten years' work experience at a financial institution or finance-related institution/organization; |
| 4. | Persons with abundant knowledge and experience in customer affairs and are recommended by a non-profit private organization; |
| 5. | Other persons with abundant knowledge and experience regarding electronic transactions or dispute conciliation. |
| (3) | The members shall be non-standing commissioners and hold office for a term of two years, and may be appointed consecutively for future terms. |
| (4) | The chairperson shall be elected from among and by members, and shall represent the Committee and exercise general supervision over its affairs. |
| (5) | Detailed matters necessary for the operation of the Committee shall be prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 18 (Supervision and Inspection of Management Agencies) |
| (1) | The Minister of Justicer shall, every two years, conduct a regular inspection regarding the technical capability, financial capability, safe operation of facilities and equipments, etc. of management agencies prescribed in Article 12 (2), and, where any ground occurs prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice, may conduct an occasional inspection regarding the facilities, equipment, documents and other articles. In such cases, where a management agency has concluded a contract for using facilities and equipments with an entity of electronic bills technology assistance business in accordance with Article 12 (4), the business entity technologically facilitating electronic bills shall be deemed a management agency. |
| (2) | The Minister of Justice may, if necessary, entrust the inspection affairs prescribed in paragraph (1) to the Financial Services Commission. In such cases, the Financial Services Commission may have the Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service conduct inspections, and the Financial Services Commission or the Financial Supervisory Service shall inform the Minister of Justice of plans for inspections and findings thereof. |
| (3) | The Minister of Justice shall, when conducting inspection affairs prescribed in paragraphs (1), conduct an inspection focusing on each of the following matters: |
| 2. | Whether electronic bills have been managed safely; |
| 3. | Whether the registrations of the issuers have been made, as prescribed by Acts and subordinate statutes, and the terms and conditions; |
| 4. | Whether a management agency has imposed unjust burdens on the users; |
| 5. | Whether any barrier exists on the use of electronic bills; |
| 6. | Whether a management agency has lawfully provided information on the users in accordance with statutes; |
| 7. | Whether a management agency has preserved records related to electronic bills appropriately in accordance with Acts and subordinate statutes. |
[This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 19 (Requests for Cooperation) |
The Minister of Justice may, when necessary for performing supervision and inspection prescribed in Article 20 (1) and (2) of the Act, request the Minister of Science and ICT, the Financial Services Commission, the Bank of Korea Governor, etc. to provide cooperation. <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 24415, Mar. 23, 2013; Presidential Decree No. 28211, Jul. 26, 2017> [This Article Wholly Amended by Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012]
| Article 19-2 (Processing of Unique Identifying Information) |
| (1) | The Minister of Justice, management agencies and business entity technologically facilitating electronic bills may, where it is essential for performing affairs concerning the provision, etc. of the information on transactions of electronic bills prescribed in Article 17 of the Act, process any data containing resident registration numbers, passport numbers, or alien registration number (hereinafter in this Article referred to as “resident registration numbers, etc.”) prescribed in the subparagraphs 1, 2, or 4 of Article 19 of the Enforcement Decree of the Personal Information Protection Act. |
| (2) | Management agencies and business entity technologically facilitating electronic bills may, where it is essential for performing their affairs concerning processing complaints and dispute settlement prescribed in Article 19 of the Act, process any data containing resident registration numbers, etc. |
| (3) | The Minister of Justice (including those person to whom any authority of the Minister of Justice is delegated or entrusted in accordance with Article 20 (5) of the Act, with respect to those affairs prescribed in subparagraph 1) may, where it is essential for performing any of the following affairs, process any data containing resident registration numbers, etc.: |
| 1. | Affairs concerning supervision and inspection of management agencies prescribed in Article 20 of the Act; |
[This Article Newly Inserted by Presidential Decree No. 25532, Aug. 6, 2014]
| Article 20 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 27751, Dec. 30, 2016> |
ADDENDUM
This Decree shall enter into force on January 1, 2005.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 19422, Mar. 29, 2006>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on April 1, 2006.
Articles 2 Omitted.
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 19507, Jun. 12, 2006>
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 20229, Aug. 17, 2007>
This Decree shall enter into force on August 18, 2007.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 20674, Feb. 29, 2008>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
Articles 2 through 3 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 20947, Jul. 29, 2008>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on February 4, 2009. (Proviso Omitted.)
Articles 2 through 28 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 21214, Dec. 31, 2008>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation. (Proviso Omitted.)
Articles 2 through 5 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 22151, May 4, 2010>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on May 5, 2010.
Articles 2 through 4 Omitted.
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 23660, Mar. 13, 2012>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 24415, Mar. 23, 2013>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.
Articles 2 through 3 Omitted.
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 25050, Dec. 30, 2013>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on January 1, 2014. (Proviso Omitted.)
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 25064, Jan. 7, 2014>
This Decree shall enter into force on April 6, 2014.
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 25532, Aug. 6, 2014>
This Decree shall enter into force on August 6, 2014.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 27751, Dec. 30, 2016>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on January 1, 2017. (Proviso Omitted.)
Articles 2 through 12 Omitted.
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 28211, Jul. 26, 2017>
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation: Provided, That among the Presidential Decrees amended under Article 6 of this Addenda, the amended provisions of a Presidential Decree which was promulgated before this Decree enters into force, but the enforcement date of which is yet to elapse shall enter into force on the enforcement date of the relevant Presidential Decree. (Proviso Omitted.)
Articles 2 through 8 Omitted.