5. Life goes on
Kakao COVID-19 Report, 2nd Edition
Quarantine support for partners of Kakao Mobility: 100,800 people
(Kakao Taxi (1 person per taxi), Kakao Driver (drivers subject to quarantine support), and Kakao Quick (1 self-test kit per person))
Life goes on in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people working in the mobility industry continued to provide their services despite the threat of COVID-19, to help citizens get to work, school and home safely. To ensure a safe working environment, Kakao Mobility has continued to provide various services and supplies required for COVID-19 prevention to 100,800 partners working for Kakao Taxi, Kakao Driver and Kakao Quick.
# For drivers who pushed through Covid-19
<Anti-COVID-19 measures for taxis worth 868 million won>
No. of masks: 255,000
No. of hand sanitizers: 65,000
Sterilization by CESCO: 33,430 taxis
When the pandemic hit the country, taxis did not stop. No, they could not stop because people still had to move on with their daily lives such as going to work and school.
To help operate taxis in a safe environment, Kakao Mobility not only distributed anti-COVID-19 supplies such as masks and hand sanitizers to taxi drivers, but also provided regular disinfection services for brand taxis, such as Kakao T Blue, Black and Venti.
[Image] Virus Care (sterilization) on Kakao Taxi Blue# Guarantee clean and safe taxi rides
As COVID-19 intensified nationwide, the concerns grew on secondary contact between taxi drivers and passengers. During times of mask scarcity, Kakao Mobility distributed masks that could be used for 15 days to about 17,000 model drivers of Kakao T Blue, Black and Venti. Additionally, starting with Daegu (1,500 hand sanitizers), one of the worst-hit cities, Kakao Mobility distributed hand sanitizers to its taxi partners around the country (4,000 to taxis in Seoul, Seongnam, Daegu, Daejeon and so on).
As various passengers used taxis at different times, taxis were disinfected by CESCO (Kakao T Blue Virus Care) before the start of service to ensure a safe environment. The Virus Care service was provided to 33,430 taxis including Kakao T Blue, Black and Venti, and anti-COVID-19 notices and guidelines were also distributed to help them maintain a tight COVID-19 prevention system.
# A blind spot in anti-COVID-19 measures – drivers for hire
Financial support for mask purchase: 325 million won
Emergency funding and preventive supplies: 173 million won
Drivers for hire drive the cars of passengers. The partners of Kakao Drivers can set their own working hours, but it is difficult for them to proactively prevent the spread of COVID-19 other than by following precautions. In the pandemic era, transport workers including taxi and bus drivers were required to wear masks, but drivers for hire were not included in the scope of transport workers.
To fill this gap in anti-COVID-19 measures, Kakao Mobility organized a program to lead the Mask Up campaign, provide preventive supplies and offer emergency financial support for the partners of Kakao Driver.
[Image] A campaign banner encouraging drivers of Kakao Driver to wear masks during working hours# Masks, preventive supplies and emergency funding
As the COVID-19 outbreak spread quickly, Kakao Mobility provided emergency financial support for mask purchase twice in the form of mileage to 65,000 partners of Kakao Driver, who were unable to work as drivers for hire due to mask shortage, and offered a pop-up service for passengers to check safety precautions including mask wearing and car ventilation. In addition, welcome packages containing masks, hand sanitizers and other preventive supplies were distributed to 2,000 new partner drivers joining Kakao Premium Drivers.
Furthermore, financial support was provided to partner drivers who had a hard time making a living due to the reinforced social distancing rules following the re-spread of COVID-19. In time for the launching of Kakao T Call, a total of 89,500,000 won was provided to the partner drivers of Kakao Driver as part of the emergency COVID-19 funding.
# Minimized contact via the Auto Pay system
<Ratio of Auto Pay users on Kakao Taxi>
23% in 2019 → 69% in 2022
People faced difficulties moving around during the COVID-19 outbreak. Even with the masks on, they felt intimidated when using crowded public transportation, and had to go home early due to the social distancing policies. Even when they used taxis late at night, it was easy to feel anxious about getting COVID-19.
The taxi call service of Kakao Mobility can minimize contacts between a drivers and passengers, as the passenger can set the point of departure and destination via the app, and pay the fare through the Auto Pay system. Adopted in 2018, Kakao Taxi’s Auto Pay system allows passengers to pay fares with a credit card pre-registered in the app when using Kakao Taxi.
[Image] Kakao Taxi Auto Pay System User Ratio# Moving around using the contactless payment system
In fact, Kakao Taxi’s Auto Pay system attracted interest from users because it helped minimize unnecessary conversations and contact between drivers and passengers amid the spreading pandemic.
The proportion of passengers using the Auto Pay system in 1Q 2019, when the COVID-19 outbreak was not yet in full swing, was 23%, but jumped to 60% in 1Q 2021 and to 69% in 1Q 2022. In particular, the ratio of auto-pay passengers in Seoul, Daegu, Daejeon, cities that experienced large outbreaks, increased rapidly during the same period.
Additional Reference: What we can do in a world halted by COVID-19
Kakao’s commitment and responsibility to make the world a better place. At the forefront to unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic, Kakao posed a question “What should we do?” and then tried its best to make meaningful changes in its own ways. This is a story of people at Kakao who have worked round the clock doing their jobs to help other people have a safe tomorrow.
2022 Kakao COVID-19 Report, 2nd Edition
Part 1: Standing up to COVID-19
Part 2: Connecting via Kakao
Part 3: Helping small businesses
Part 4: We are in this together
Part 5: Life goes on
Part 6: Kakao is always nearby
Part 7: For our Krew’s safety
2020 COVID-19 Report, 1st Edition click here
Kakao Corporation owns the publication rights to the Kakao COVID-19 Report, and prohibits the use of the Kakao COVID-19 Report for commercial purposes. The Kakao COVID-19 Report must be mentioned as the source, even when the data is used or cited within circumstances specified by copyright law.
Click below to download PDF version of the Kakao COVID-19 Report.