UK government agrees to proposal making secondary ticketing more transparent

Secondary ticket agencies such as Stubhub and Viagogo will be forced to increase in transparency, after the British government agreed to a proposal to protect ticket-buying fans from fraudulent activity.

Conversative peer Lord Moynihan has tabled an amendment to the consumer rights bill, aiming to increase transparency by forcing reselling companies to name the exact details of tickets being sold. Seat numbers, rows, original value and age restrictions will all be detailed - previously, companies were not required to provide exact specifications.

Mike Weatherley MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Secondary Ticketing, said: “This has been a long-standing campaign by the APPG to get some overdue changes in place. The free market system has broken down due to the introduction of ‘bots’ and other factors, enabling, on occasions, obscene profiteering for intermediaries against the interest of fans and the wishes of those putting on the event.”

He continued: “While the new amendment does not cover every change that we had hoped for, it is an important step in the right direction. I believe that the statutory review on this issue is important and I look forward to seeing if further changes need to made in the future.”

These new proposals aim to put more power into the hands of purchasers, with touts and high-profile resellers likely to be affected.