As it has been confirmed that Hanam City has been charging differential usage fees for table tennis and badminton stadiums, which are representative indoor sports, for over 10 years, table tennis enthusiasts who have been paying relatively high usage fees are protesting.
Moreover, it was found that expensive table tennis court usage fees had continued to be imposed even after the basis for differential charging of usage fees was removed with the revision of related ordinances.
According to the city on the 20th, the city operates sports facilities through consignment to Hanam City Corporation and is charging usage fees for 9 sports facilities (including Wirye Sports Complex), including Hanam Sports Complex, Hanam National Sports Center, and Poongsan Multi-Sports Center, in accordance with the ‘Management and Operation Ordinance of Hanam City Sports Facilities (hereinafter referred to as Sports Facilities Ordinance)’.
While most cities and counties in Gyeonggi-do charge the same fee for table tennis and badminton courts, the city charges 1,400 won for badminton and 3,300 won for table tennis per person for 2 hours (Hanam residents), making table tennis court usage fees more than twice as expensive as badminton court usage fees.
It was also confirmed that this was expensive compared to the table tennis court usage fee for sports facilities in nearby local governments, such as 1,800 won in Suwon City, 1,500 won in Seongnam City, and 1,500 won in Gwangju City.
In this way, the differential charging of table tennis and badminton court usage fees is due to the establishment of the usage fee regulations in ‘Appendix 2-3’ of the Sports Facilities Ordinance after the completion of ‘Hanam Sports Complex 2nd Gymnasium’, a badminton-specific stadium, in 2014, and a special provision to apply only to Hanam Sports Complex 2nd Gymnasium. However, for the table tennis courts, ‘other unspecified usage fees may be determined separately’. This is because according to regulations, the fee was set and charged at 3,300 won (including value-added tax), the same fee as the swimming pool usage fee.
In addition, when the Sports Facilities Ordinance was revised in September 2022, the special provision to apply only to Hanam Sports Complex 2nd Gymnasium was deleted, effectively eliminating the basis for charging differential usage fees for table tennis and badminton courts. However, it was revealed that the city and Hanam City Corporation are still charging differential usage fees three years later.
One table tennis fan complained, “Not only is the table tennis court in the Gamil Complex Community Center smaller and poorer than the badminton court, but the badminton court is three times larger than the table tennis court, and the usage fee is 2.5 times more expensive than the badminton court.”
Regarding this, a city official explained, “The usage fees for each sport are charged in accordance with the Sports Facilities Ordinance,” and “We will closely look into the usage fees and if there are any unreasonable points, we will improve them.”
Hanam/Reporter Moon Seong-ho moon23@kyeongin.com
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