Price of resale tickets to be fixed under plan to tackle touts

The government has announced plans to cap the price of resale tickets to crack down on ticket brokers, who buy tickets in bulk and then resell them for huge profits.

This limit will apply to tickets for the live events industry, including sports, music, comedy and theatre.

it One of the election promises of the government was, Following complaints from fans and concert goers about the highly inflated price of some resale tickets.

A public consultation will now be launched to consider the limit and how much it would be – anywhere from the face value of the ticket or up to 30% on top of the original price.

According to Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) analysis, tickets sold on the resale market are typically priced up by more than 50%.

A Trading Standards investigation found evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost.

fans of music artists including coldplay And Taylor Swift complained that just minutes after tickets for his concerts sold out, resale tickets were listed online for thousands of pounds.

The government says its consultation will seek views on capping resale prices at a range of up to a 30% increase from the original price.

Ministers are also proposing to limit the number of tickets sold by resellers to the maximum they are allowed to buy in the original ticket sale.

They also want to create new legal obligations for ticket resale websites and apps to monitor the accuracy of the information they provide to fans – with competition and marketing authorities responsible for trading standards and enforcement.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “We are taking action to strengthen consumer protection, prevent fraud with fans and ensure that money spent on tickets goes to our incredible live events sector rather than into the pockets of greedy brokers. Go back.”

As well as the consultation, ministers have launched a call for evidence into dynamic pricing – which is said to be often used to sell unsold tickets with lower prices, but means That some customers are stuck paying higher prices for high-demand events.

According to Government Aid, “The call for evidence will seek views on how the ticketing system is working for fans in the live event arena and whether the current system provides adequate protection from unfair practices.”

Last year, due to demand, Oasis fans were asked to pay up to £350 per ticket, almost £200 more than advertised.

Earlier, Noel and Liam Gallagher said they were not aware that dynamic pricing would be used for their UK stadium shows next summer – but admitted that ticket distribution had not gone as planned .

Ticketmaster has stated that it does not set prices and that it is up to the “event organiser” who has “priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Ticket resale sites have previously defended their services, with Viagogo saying that its site ensures that reselling is “a safe, secure transaction”.

boss of viagogo earlier told BBC Many fans actually prefer to purchase on Viagogo rather than purchasing tickets directly.

“They don’t want to be forced to wake up on a Friday morning and wait in line, which may or may not happen,” he says.

In a statement, Viagogo said he would “continue to engage constructively with the government”.

It added that it would “look forward to responding fully to the consultation and will seek evidence to improve consumer protection in the ticketing market”.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster said it would support setting limits on ticket resale.

“Since 2018, our resales have been limited to face value, giving fans a safe place to sell tickets they can’t use at the original price set by the artists and event organizers,” It said.

“We support proposals to impose industry-wide resale price limits. We also urge the government to crack down on bots and ban speculative ticket sales.”

Campaigners and music artists have welcomed the consultation. UK Music, which represents the UK music industry, said it wanted a “clear price range”.

Musician and DJ Fatboy Slim supported the government’s proposals, saying “It’s great to see money being put back into the pockets of fans instead of resellers”.

Labor MP Sharon Hodgson, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on ticket abuse and has been campaigning on the issue for 15 years, also welcomed the government’s proposal.

He said, “I hope that those who have been affected by inflated prices, speculative ticket sales or have been victims of scams in the secondary market will take part in this consultation.”

The Fanfare Alliance, a campaign group set up against ticket brokers, called the measures “potentially game-changing”.

It pointed to other countries – As Ireland bans ticket brokering in 2021 – saying that it shows “how legislation to prevent the resale of tickets for profit could massively curb the illegal and anti-consumer practices of online ticket brokers and offshore resale platforms. The UK should simply follow their example need to be followed”.