The financial and antitrust regulators launched joint on-site inspections Thursday into e-commerce platforms TMON and WeMakePrice over their delays in payments to sellers amid liquidity issues, the finance ministry said.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) set up a task force in charge of the issue under the Korea Consumer Agency and the government began preparations for collective dispute resolutions in an effort to better protect customers involved, according to the ministry.A series of measures, announced after a government-wide emergency meeting in the day, came after the online marketplaces owned by Singapore-based e-commerce giant Qoo10 have delayed payments to sellers and requested refunds to customers.The issue has sparked concerns about industrywide impacts and potential damage to customers, as the value of payment delays by the two came to around 170 billion won (US$122.69 million), and most of their 60,000 sellers were small merchants and the self-employed relatively vulnerable to such risks, acco rding to industry officials.The FTC and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) sent officials to offices of the companies in Seoul to figure out the situation and to see if they have violated the e-commerce transaction act, terms of contracts with sellers and customers and other regulations.The government also pressured them to come up with measures to address the issue with a responsible stance, according to the ministry.FSS chief Lee Bok-hyun said its six-member inspection team was dispatched to the platforms earlier in the day and it is "checking to see if the numbers reported by the companies are accurate and appropriate."The customer agency has received more than 2,300 complaints this month regarding the platforms, and the government vowed to begin procedures for the settlement of collective disputes.It also pledged to support customers with their possible civil suits against the companies.The FSS and the Financial Services Commission will strengthen settlement fund management to minimize da mage to sellers."The government will beef up the monitoring of the issue to minimize impacts and to come up with necessary measures," the ministry said in a release.Ryu Hwa-hyun, co-chief executive of WeMakePrice, apologized for the incident, saying Qoo10 Group has been working to secure funds to pay money to sellers.Source: Yonhap News Agency