Lee Jung-hee, center, who leads the government consultative body overseeing the talks between delivery platforms and their partner restaurants, speaks during a press conference at Goverment Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Seoul, Nov. 8. Yonhap

Negotiations between delivery platforms and their partner restaurants over reducing controversial commission fees have practically failed, with the latest round of talks ending without an agreement.

Lee Jung-hee, who leads the government consultative body overseeing the talks, announced the outcome of the 11th, and likely final, meeting held Thursday. The meetings included representatives from Baedal Minjok (Baemin), the market leader, as well as its smaller competitors Coupang Eats and Yogiyo, alongside small businesses registered with these platforms.

"An agreement on the commission has failed," Lee told a press briefing, emphasizing differences between proposals put forward by the platforms and demands of the partner merchants.

The delivery app operators have proposed a tiered commission system, categorizing merchants by their revenue within the app. Lower-revenue merchants would qualify for lower commission rates.

Baemin, which currently charges a 9.8 percent commission on food prices, proposed fees ranging from 2 to 7.8 percent across three tiers based on merchants' revenue.

Coupang Eats also currently charges 9.8 percent and suggested a six-tier system with fees ranging from 2 to 9.5 percent.

Yogiyo proposed a fee range of 4.7 to 9.7 percent, depending on the number of orders, and also offered to return 20 percent of fees to merchants who earn below a 40 percent revenue threshold.

In contrast, merchants continued to push for a cap on commission rates at 5 percent.

"It's challenging to meet the 5 percent level requested by partner stores due to various considerations," Lee said.

The body urged the platforms to revise their proposals by Monday and suggested that Baemin consider improving its existing offer.

"If the revised proposal appears workable, we may hold another meeting," Lee said. "Otherwise, yesterday's meeting could very well be the last."

Baemin, owned by Woowa Brothers, reportedly holds around 60 percent of Korea's food delivery app market, with the remaining share split between GS Retail's Yogiyo and Coupang Eats, the food delivery arm of e-commerce giant Coupang.

Korea is one of the world's largest food delivery markets, valued at estimated over 20 trillion won ($14.4 billion), supported by high smartphone penetration and a dense population. (Yonhap)