Reselling gig and other tickets above face value to be banned by government

Reselling tickets to live events for a profit is to be banned by the government.

Ministers will announce the plan in a bid to tackle touts and resale sites, which often offer music, theatre, comedy and sport tickets at well above face value.

Restricting ticket touts was one of the Labour government’s election pledges, as fans complained of massively inflated prices for resold tickets.

The decision comes a week after dozens of artists including Sam Fender, Dua Lipa and Coldplay urged Sir Keir Starmer to protect fans from exploitation.

A consultation on the changes had canvassed views on capping costs at up to 30% above the face value of a ticket.

But the government has decided to set the limit at the “original cost”, or face value, while also promising to take measures to cap extra fees “to prevent the price limit being undermined”.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) suggested the move would end the “business model of industrial-scale ticket touting”, and would make resale tickets £37 cheaper on average, saving fans collectively £112m per year.

Resale platforms will have a legal duty to monitor and enforce the new regulations.

“Ticket touting has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years,” a DCMS statement said.

“Touts buy large volumes of tickets online, often using automated bots, before relisting them on resale platforms at hugely inflated prices. This has caused misery for millions of fans and damaged the live events industry.

“The new laws will stamp out this practice, improving access for genuine fans when tickets originally go on sale and ending rip-off pricing on the resale market.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed told BBC Breakfast touts making profits at the expense of fans was “such an important issue” as it was “hugely damaging to individuals having to pay through the nose for tickets”.

He stressed the government was “committed to outlawing it”.

The move comes after the open letter by some of the biggest names in music.

The music stars urged the prime minister to stop the “extortionate and pernicious” websites that exploit fans.

Other signatories included consumer watchdog Which?, the Football Supporters’ Association, and groups representing the music and theatre industries, venues and ticket retailers.

According to analysis by the Competition and Markets Authority, tickets currently sold on the resale market are typically marked up by more than 50%.

Investigations by Trading Standards have previously uncovered evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said the change was “great news for music and sports fans”, adding that the plan would “rein in professional touts and put tickets back in the hands of real fans”.

She urged the government to “show that the price cap is a priority by including the necessary legislation in the King’s Speech”.

Ahead of the announcement, Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation Entertainment said it already limits resale in the UK to face value prices and described the reported plan as “another major step forward for fans”.

Resale sites like Viagogo and Stubhub have previously claimed that a price cap could push customers towards unregulated sites and social media, putting them at increased risk of fraud.

But Tom Kiehl, chief executive of UK Music, said a cap on secondary ticket prices was needed in order to protect both the industry and fans from “exorbitant” prices.

“The music industry itself is worth £8bn to the economy, and relies on that strong relationship between music fans and and the artist,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.

“And what you have at the moment is the resale market, which isn’t working.”

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