The price of resale tickets could be capped under plans to stop the public being “fleeced” by professional touts, the government has announced.
The limit could range from the cost of the original ticket to a 30% uplift, with a consultation to be launched on the specifics of the measure.
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Restricting the number of tickets resellers can list to the maximum they are allowed to purchase on the primary market is another option being considered.
The proposed changes come after concert sales for artists including Taylor Swift were marred by professional touts reselling at heavily inflated prices.
Others have been caught out by a lack of transparency over the system of dynamic pricing, which left Oasis fans watching the cost of some standard tickets more than double from £148 to £355 as they waited in the queue.
Ministers have already promised a dynamic pricing review, with the latest measures aimed at stopping touts “hoarding tickets and reselling at heavily inflated prices”, the culture department said.
There has long been concerns about rip-off ticket resales for events, with high-profile artists like Ed Sheeran pushing for more regulation.
According to analysis by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), typical mark-ups on tickets sold second hand are more than 50%, while investigations by Trading Standards have uncovered evidence of seats going for up to six times their original price.
Last year, Virgin Media O2 estimated that ticket touts cost music fans an extra £145 million per year.
The proposals announced today will apply to music concerts, as well as live sport and other events, delivering on a Labour manifesto commitment to make the system fairer.
DJ Fatboy Slim said it was “great to see money being put back into fans pockets…
