Why you’ll soon pay fair price for UK concert tickets

The UK government has stated that it will enact legislation prohibiting the profit-making sale of secondary concert and event tickets, as reported by loudersound. The country’s Labour-led administration announced the audacious decision, which goes beyond what was previously expected, following a consultation session. The government has officially declared that secondary tickets cannot be sold for more than face value. Previously, it was believed that the regulations would cap any profits from secondary sales at thirty percent. According to the NME, the new regulations would save millions of pounds annually for fans of comedy, theater, sports, and music. Viagogo and other secondary ticket platforms will be prohibited from charging exorbitant costs and will be subject to severe penalties if they violate the regulations.

We promised when we were elected that it would be time up for ticket touts. It’s a good day. People will obviously be able to re-sell their tickets, but not for any more than the price they paid for it. They’ll have to sell it at face value. You do get lots of people who later find that they can’t go to a gig or sporting event, and we want to make sure that they can still sell their ticket. They won’t be able to add on any more money than they paid, but they will be able to get their money back.

There will be powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to be able to fine platforms up to 10% of their annual income. If they’re not complying, the CMA will intervene and it could result in multi-million pound fines for rogue firms, wherever they’re based in the world. If a global business is targeting UK consumers, regardless of where they’re headquartered, the CMA will have the power to be able to find them if they’re not compliant with our laws. – UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

Before the laws take effect, they must be ratified by the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords. The contentious practice of “dynamic ticket pricing” won’t be completely outlawed, according to Nandy, but ticket vendors will need to be transparent about their pricing policies.

We’re not announcing an end to dynamic pricing, but where we have concerns is in making sure that consumers have the right information and the fullest information. After the debacle around the sale of Oasis tickets where people were going into a queue and then eventually getting to the front to find that the price they thought they were paying was vastly inflated, a number of people find they could no longer afford it. We’re not saying that a company wouldn’t be able to use dynamic pricing. What we are saying, and what the CMA has already said, is that people have to have accurate information and ticket descriptions. They have to understand the practices being used to prevent those huge surprises.