Hong Kong Government moves to tackle ticket scalpers
Following fan outrage over inflated secondary ticket sales at recent events, Hong Kong Government Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has advised that she is looking to crack down on the secondary ticketing market by making scalping illegal at Government-run venues.
Over recent weeks, fans have been angered by high secondary ticket prices for comedian Dayo Wong and Taiwanese band MayDay and sold them for inflated prices.
As a result, Lam advised yesterday that she was considering making amendments to the laws that cover ticket sales in Hong Kong to make scalping a criminal offence.
Quoted in the South China Morning Post newspaper, Lam advised “the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will evaluate the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance to see if it can be expanded to cover the government premises, so as to make ticket scalping a criminal offence.
“It will also consider whether to raise the punishment.”
It has been suggested that the Hong Kong Government combat the reselling of tickets online and require show organisers to allocate more tickets to the public.
A HK$280 ticket for Wong’s performance appeared on resale site Viagogo for more than HK$1,200, while tickets for other shows have been regularly resold online for five times more than their face value.
Dayo Wong (pictured) said on Facebook that this was “outrageous”, and angry fans urged the government to introduce a “real name registration” system to stop the problem from recurring.
Ticket scalping is technically a criminal offence at private Hong Kong venues that hold entertainment licences, but the punishment under the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance limits it to a fine of just HK$2,000 for an offence.
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