UK targets touts with ban on ticket resale for profit

By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain will ban the resale of tickets for music concerts, shows and sporting events at inflated prices, tackling the scourge of ticket touts who use technology to snap up tickets for popular events, the government said on Tuesday.

Housing minister Steve Reed said the practice of "ticket touting" - people buying tickets to sell them on at multiples of their face value - was hugely damaging for individuals who had to pay "through the nose" to attend.

Shares in U.S. company StubHub, the owner of resale site Viagogo, fell 14% on Monday after it was reported the government would go ahead with a ban.

BOTS SNAP UP TICKETS

"We are committed to ending the scandal of ticket touts," Reed told BBC News on Tuesday, adding that its plans would be set out by ministers in the coming days.

Tickets for tours by artists like Taylor Swift, Oasis and Radiohead are offered on resale sites for hugely inflated prices minutes after they sell out. Touts use "bots" to beat online queues for tickets.

Radiohead's upcoming tour in London is one of the highest priced on resale sites. Standing tickets for its show on Friday, originally priced at 85 pounds ($112), were on Viagogo from 682 pounds on Tuesday.

The group joined Coldplay, Dua Lipa and others in signing an open letter, published by consumer group Which?, calling on the government to fulfill its promise to take on the touts.

Viagogo said processes to verify tickets would be a more effective way to stop illegal bot activity.

"Evidence shows price caps have repeatedly failed fans. In countries like Ireland and Australia, fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK as price caps push consumers towards unregulated sites," a Viagogo spokesperson said.

"Opening the market to greater competition also helps drive prices down, benefiting fans."

The government had been considering setting a cap of up to 30% above face value for the resale of tickets.

However, the Guardian said the resale of tickets above face value would be banned. The newspaper also said there would be a cap on the fees that resale platforms could charge.

Separately on Tuesday, Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said it had opened investigations into the pricing practices of a number of online platforms, including StubHub, which is separate from the U.S.-listed company, and Viagogo.

($1 = 0.7609 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young and Jan Harvey)