As BLACKPINKs concert ticket prices skyrocket, Taiwanese parliament imposes fines of 100 million won on ticket scalping
Amid controversy over BLACKPINK’s Taiwan concert ticketing, the Taiwanese parliament passed a bill to fine ticket scalpers.
On May 16th, Yonhap News and Taiwanese media reported that the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) of Taiwan had passed a revision for the ‘Cultural and Creative Industries Development Act’ to eradicate ticket scalping with the support of both ruling and opposition parties on the 12th.
According to the revised law, the act of selling tickets for art and cultural performances at prices exceeding their face value or original price will be considered scalping and subject to punishment. Regardless of whether the resale transaction is completed or not, fines ranging from 10 to 50 times the face value or original price of the ticket can be imposed.
If one gets caught purchasing tickets through false data, plugins, macro programs, or other cheating methods may be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and fined up to 3 million Taiwanese dollars (about 120 million won).
In addition, the Ministry of Culture has decided to submit detailed plans and schedules, including the implementation of real-name ticketing for large exhibitions and performances and the establishment of a ticket resale trading platform within three months.
Taiwan’s Minister of Culture announced that a “joint anti-scalping team” consisting of members from the National Police Agency, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Internet Investigation Force, and local authorities will be formed to crack down on and eradicate scalping.
The Ministry of Culture explained that they plan to offer rewards for those who report ticket scalping within around 20% of the fines, up to a maximum of 100,000 Taiwanese dollars (about 4.33 million won). They added that informants will be able to register reports regardless of whether they wish to disclose their identity or not.
The Ministry of Culture emphasized that although it is not illegal to purchase tickets through ticket agencies or on behalf of others, the selling price must not exceed the face value of the tickets. Parliament members also expressed their idea to implement a conditional real-name system due to the increasingly serious issue of scalping of art and cultural event tickets.
According to Taiwanese media, 18 out of 36 cases of ticket scalping detected from 2018 to last year have already been fined. In March of this year, the price of scalped tickets for BLACKPINK’s World Tour concert in Kaohsiung soared up to 45 times the original price.
While the face value of the tickets was 8,800 Taiwanese dollars (about 380,000 Won), scalped tickets were reportedly traded at prices as high as 400,000 Taiwanese dollars (about 17.34 million won).
Tickets for Super Junior’s “Super Show 9” concert in Taipei last year were reportedly sold at prices as high as 10 times the original price.
As a result, Taiwanese media poured criticism over the fact that ticket scalping intensifies whenever popular K-pop concerts take place.
Source: Wikitree
