More than 2.1 million people eligible for telecom bill discounts — including people with disabilities, older adults and low-income households — did not receive the benefit in the first half of this year. The value of the unclaimed discounts is estimated at about 174.3 billion won ($126 million).
One in Five Vulnerable Recipients Missed Out
According to data on first-half telecom discounts for vulnerable groups, released by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the office of Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 21st, 10,674,877 people were eligible for telecom bill discounts in the first half of this year.
Of those, 8,574,247 actually received the discount. That leaves 2,100,630 people, or about 20% of all eligible recipients, without the benefit.
Total telecom discounts in the first half came to 711.706 billion won. Based on the number of people who actually received them, the average discount worked out to about 83,005 won per person for the half-year, or roughly 13,834 won a month.
Applying the same figure to the 2,100,630 people who received nothing, the benefits they missed in the first half of this year come to about 174.3 billion won.
The number of people missing out has risen every year. On a first-half basis, the figure grew from 1.8 million in 2022 to 1.86 million in 2023, 2.01 million in 2024 and 2.04 million in 2025, before climbing to 2.1 million this year.
More People Eligible, but the Same Application Hurdle
The pool of eligible recipients has also grown. It stood at 9,423,529 in the first half of 2022 and rose by about 1.25 million to 10,674,877 this year.
Under the current Telecommunications Business Act, discount programs are in place for vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and low-income households. But recipients must apply themselves — by visiting a carrier's retail outlet or a community service center, or by using the internet or a call center — to have the discount applied.
That application process acts as a barrier for groups with limited access to information, such as older adults and people with disabilities. Some do not know they qualify, while others run into difficulties during the application process and end up unable to use the program.
"The fact that more than 2 million vulnerable people go without the discount every year means the current application-based system alone cannot close these gaps," Hwang said. "For recipients who have consented to the provision of their personal information, the system needs to be improved so that verification of eligibility automatically triggers the telecom discount."
