A growing number of customers have been filing complaints against e-commerce operators over product quality and service in the wake of their explosive growth in recent years, data showed Monday.

The Korean online shopping market has rapidly grown in the world's most-wired country to become a major retail channel, with monthly transactions reaching nearly 5 trillion won in November.

The Korea Consumer Agency said it received 6,701 complaints related to digital shopping services last year, up 21.1 percent from a year ago.
Complaints about social commerce sites surged 27.4 percent on-year to 428 in 2015, the consumer watchdog said. 

Six out of 10 were related to sales and contract terms, with the rest of them being related to the quality of products and after-sales service, it said.
The growing customer dissatisfaction sparked calls to revise outdated regulations to promote consumer rights in line with the latest trend. 

"More consumers are filing complaints as online shopping has become more popular," said Lee Seung-shin, a professor at Konkuk University. "The time has come for the government to monitor related regulations and strengthen them for consumer protection." (Yonhap)