Price of resale tickets to be capped under plans to tackle touts

The authorities has announced plans to headdress the terms of resale tickets successful a clamp-down connected summons touts who bulk bargain tickets and past resell them for immense profits.

The headdress would use to tickets successful the unrecorded events manufacture including sport, music, drama and theatre.

It was 1 of the government's predetermination promises, aft complaints from fans and concert-goers astir the massively inflated outgo of immoderate resale tickets.

A nationalist consultation volition present beryllium launched to see the headdress and however overmuch it volition beryllium - anyplace from the ticket's look worth oregon up to 30% connected apical of the archetypal price.

According to investigation by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), tickets sold connected the resale marketplace are typically marked up by much than 50%.

Investigations by Trading Standards person uncovered grounds of tickets being resold for up to six times their archetypal cost.

Fans for euphony artists including Coldplay and Taylor Swift person complained that minutes aft tickets to their concerts sold out, resale tickets were listed online for thousands of pounds.

The authorities says its consultation volition question views connected capping resale prices connected a range, from the archetypal terms to up to a 30% uplift.

Ministers are besides proposing limiting the fig of tickets that resellers tin sell, to the maximum they are allowed to acquisition successful the archetypal summons sale.

They besides privation to make caller ineligible obligations for summons resale websites and apps to oversee the accuracy of accusation they supply to fans - with Trading Standards and the Competition and Marketing Authority liable for enforcement.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "We are taking enactment to fortify user protections, halt fans getting ripped disconnected and guarantee wealth spent connected tickets goes backmost into our unthinkable unrecorded events sector, alternatively of into the pockets of greedy touts."

Alongside the consultation, ministers person launched a telephone for grounds into dynamic pricing - which is says is often utilized to merchantability unsold tickets with little prices but has meant immoderate customers person been caught retired paying higher prices for high-demand events.

"The telephone for grounds volition question views connected however the ticketing strategy successful the unrecorded events assemblage is moving for fans and whether the existent strategy provides capable extortion from unfair practices," the governments aid.

Last year, Oasis fans were asked to wage arsenic overmuch arsenic £350 per ticket, astir £200 much than had been advertised, owed to demand.

Previously, Noel and Liam Gallagher said they had not been alert that dynamic pricing would beryllium utilized for their UK stadium shows adjacent summertime - but acknowledged that the rotation retired of the tickets had not gone arsenic planned.

Ticketmaster has said it does not acceptable prices and that it is down to the "event organiser" who "has priced these tickets according to their marketplace value".

Ticket resale sites person antecedently defended their services, with Viagogo saying its tract ensures resales are "a secure, harmless transaction".

Viagogo's brag previously told the BBC tons of fans really similar buying connected Viagogo alternatively of buying tickets direct.

"They don't privation to beryllium forced to get up connected Friday greeting and hold successful a queue that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not happen," helium says.

In a statement, Viagogo said it would "continue to constructively prosecute with the government".

It added that it volition "look guardant to responding successful afloat to the consultation and telephone for grounds connected improving user protections successful the ticketing market".

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster said it would enactment a headdress connected the reselling of tickets.

"Since 2018, our resale has been capped astatine look value, providing fans a harmless spot to merchantability tickets they can't usage astatine the archetypal terms acceptable by artists and lawsuit organisers," it said.

"We enactment proposals to present an industry-wide resale terms cap. We besides impulse the authorities to ace down connected bots and prohibition speculative summons sales."

Campaigners and euphony artists person welcomed the consultation. UK Music, which represents the UK's euphony industry, said it wanted a "clear terms cap".

Musician and DJ Fatboy Slim gave his backing to the government's proposals, saying it was "great to spot wealth being enactment backmost into fans' pockets alternatively of resellers".

Labour's Sharon Hodgson, the MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary radical connected summons maltreatment and has been campaigning for 15 years connected the issue, besides welcomed the government's proposal.

"I anticipation each those who person been affected by the inflated prices, speculative summons selling oregon fallen unfortunate to scams that are prolific wrong the secondary marketplace volition get progressive successful this consultation," she said.

FanFair Alliance, a run radical that was acceptable up against summons touts, called the measures "potentially game-changing".

It pointed to different countries - such arsenic Ireland which banned summons touting successful 2021 - saying it shows "how authorities to forestall the resale of tickets for nett tin massively curb the amerciable and anti-consumer practices of online summons touts and offshore resale platforms. The UK simply needs to travel their example".