Ticket touting to be outlawed

It will soon be illegal to resell tickets for concerts or sporting events at a higher price than face value. Belgium’s parliamentary economy commission passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at regulating the resale of tickets, under which the occasional sale of tickets cannot be done for profit, and only administrative costs may justify a moderate increase in the sell-on price. MP Karine Lalieux gave as examples tickets for [French pop band] Indochine bought for €30 and sold for €255, and Rock Werchter passes selling for €350 instead of €80. The bill aims to counter the massive mark-ups in the resale of tickets coinciding with the emergence of sites such as eBay. Lalieux said, “Ultimately, it is citizens who are penalised by touts who speculate. Those dealers effectively deny many people access to events.” The bill also seeks to ban the sale of tickets before the official date and the sale for profit of tickets acquired for free, such as through a contest. The total price, including admin and booking fees, must from now on appear on all tickets and anyone caught violating the new legislation will be liable to be fined up to €10,000. Regular consultation between all parties – producers, promoters, distributors, venues and concert-goers – will be introduced to enable the implementation of  good community practices, such as ticket exchange platforms.