Ticket Resale Puzzler For UK Gov

The House of Lords voted 183-171 Nov. 19 in favour of an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill, which – if it became law – would force major resale platforms such as Viagogo, Ticketmaster and its recent acquisition Seatwave to provide more detailed information about the tickets they’re offering on secondary sites.

“Ticket touts have operated with impunity for far too long,” said Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, who’s spent at least the last two years trying to regulate ticket resales. “In no other market would we put up with not knowing who we were buying from or whether they even had permission to sell us a product.

“This amendment is a significant step towards tackling the scourge of touts and putting fans first, and I hope that the government now listens to the will of parliament.”

The vote leaves the government to decide to accept the amendment, risk a vote to have it tossed out when the Consumer Rights Bill returns to the House of Commons or reach a compromise with the all-party parliamentary group that’s determined to rein in the secondary ticket sellers.

An effort to get the amendment through the Commons was defeated earlier in the year but growing cross-party support suggests the results could differ this time.

The amendment has the support of former British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan and former England women’s cricket captain Baroness Heyhoe-Flint. In February 2013, the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Podium said lack of regulation in the secondary market is encouraging “unscrupulous practices, a lack of transparency and fraud.”

Given that the government is unlikely to want to accept the amendment as it stands, a compromise would be the most likely outcome. Even culture secretary Sajid Javid, who once described ticket touts as “classic entrepreneurs” who recognise an opportunity in the market, is understood to be open to the idea of increasing transparency in the secondary ticket business.

Javid’s also the target of the various parliamentary lobbyists that the secondary firms have hired to bend his ear on the subject.

The amendment adds 10 points to the Consumer Rights Bill, but stripped down they basically mean the secondary platforms would have to make clear the identity of the ticket seller, the face value of the ticket and whether the purchaser risks being refused entry because the ticket has been resold.

The secondary sites would also have to give the ticket’s seat number or show where it’s situated in the venue. The amended Consumer Rights Bill is expected to be back in the House of Commons before Christmas.