Leadership / 04.18.19

Ontario Just Scrapped a Ticket Resale Cap Meant to Keep Scalpers' Profits Down

Access Staff

CBC News (Canada) (04/15/19)

Ontario's government is ditching a cap on ticket resale prices at 50 percent higher than original face value, as announced in its new budget. Government and Consumer Services Minister Bill Walker said the cap, a mandate from the previous Liberal government, "was unenforceable." The business community had opposed the rule, with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce telling the then-attorney general in 2017 that local ticket businesses would be harmed, and those outside the province's jurisdiction would be undeterred. New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath expressed disappointment with the cap's cancellation, contending "most people struggle to even afford to go to one sports game or one form of entertainment a year." Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said the rule was intended to protect consumers from price-gouging, and ensure fairness. Also stripped was a requirement for secondary ticket sellers to disclose their name, location, and contact information, provided they guarantee in writing that a full refund will be supplied if the event is cancelled, if the ticket is counterfeit, or if it does not in fact allow the buyer to attend the event. The original bill also required sellers to disclose both an event's maximum capacity and the number of tickets going on sale, but in its current form sellers only must disclose maximum event capacity and tickets' distribution method.

Read the full article on CBC News (Canada). 

Tags: Reselling , Regulations , News , Secondary Ticketing