"Reselling tickets for profit is to be outlawed under plans due to be announced this week, the Guardian has learned, as the government goes ahead with a long-awaited crackdown on touts and resale platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub. Ministers had been considering allowing touts and ordinary consumers to sell on a ticket for up to 130% of face value, as part of a consultation process that ended earlier this year. However, the Guardian understands that touts and ordinary consumers will no longer be able to charge anything more than the price at which they purchased the ticket in the first place."
"Under the plans, which could form part of next year's King's speech anyone selling a ticket will not be allowed to charge more than they paid for it. Resale platforms will be allowed to charge fees on top of that price. These extras will also be limited, although the scale of the ceiling on service fees is yet to be determined. The legislation will also govern social media sites, which resale platforms have claimed would offer unregulated and potentially fraudulent tickets if legislation squeezes online ticket exchanges out of the market."
"Anyone reselling a ticket will also be prohibited from offering more tickets than they could have procured under limits set by the original box office company. A licensing system for ticket resale companies, one of the options that the government review considered, will not be adopted. Resale platforms will be legally liable if sellers using their site do not comply with the law, which will be enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority."
Reselling tickets above the purchase price will be banned under planned legislation, prohibiting touts and consumers from charging more than they paid. Resale platforms can charge service fees on top of face price, but those fees will be capped, with the exact ceiling yet to be decided. Social media sales will be regulated to prevent unregulated or fraudulent exchanges. Sellers cannot offer more tickets than box-office limits allow. A proposed licensing system for resale companies will not be adopted. Platforms will be legally liable for sellers' non-compliance, with enforcement by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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