The Government has announced a review of the consumer protection measures in the online ticket resale market for events. This Review is required by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and a Call for Evidence has been made.
The Review, to be chaired by Professor Michael Waterson, is focusing on the secondary ticket market for re-sale of tickets for UK sporting, entertainment and cultural events. The Call for Evidence is to enable the Review to look more closely at consumer issues and secondary ticketing.
Some key issues for consideration by the Review are:
- The scope for profiteering and/or fraud through the sale of unavailable or invalid tickets that may not permit entry to the event. Sometimes consumers buy tickets in the mistaken belief they are purchasing on the primary market from the official ticketing agent. Consumers may not become aware of whether they have a valid ticket (or not) until arrival at the event. This can mean event organisers refusing entry for a problem caused by an unrelated third party.
- Invalid tickets: online and offline comparison. Consumers who use major resale sites may invoke a guarantee to seek to obtain a genuine ticket or a refund. Whereas, those customers who purchase an invalid ticket on the street outside the venue will be unlikely ever to see the vendor again and will have lost their opportunity to attend the event as well as losing their money.
- The use of computer programmes (‘botnets’) which, while not reducing the overall number of tickets for sale, automatically purchase a volume of tickets in seconds once they enter the market, potentially depriving members of the public from acquiring tickets for their own use directly.
- The virtue, validity and reasonableness of primary ticket sale conditions that seek to prevent ticket resale or transfer. The Review is particularly looking for responses from event organisers, primary and secondary ticket sellers, online resale market businesses and enforcement bodies. However, anyone can respond, and all responses will be considered.
Commenting on this development James Allen, Head of Policy at the Sport and Recreation Alliance, said, "We were pleased to secure real progress on this issue in the last Parliament but the real test as ever is not just what the law says, but what happens in practice. It is essential that people buying tickets for events are given as much protection as possible and we look forward to a thorough review to ensure that this really happening. We will be working closely with our members to input evidence."
The deadline to provide evidence for the review is 20 November. The Alliance will be formulating a response and those wishing to know more should email policy@sportandrecreation.org.uk
The Review will consider the evidence in relation to the secondary ticketing market for event tickets and publish its conclusions by 26 May 2016.
