How MPs plan to prevent another Oasis tickets scandal
By Politics Producer Elisa Menendez
A bill that would make it illegal for ticket sellers to bump up prices as people wait to buy online will be debated in the House of Commons this week.
The Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill has been put forward by Labour MP Rupa Huq in the wake of the Oasis reunion tour backlash, which saw some fans paying hundreds more than they expected to due to "dynamic pricing".
Huq wants the law changed to improve transparency in the ticketing process and prevent fans from being ripped off.
Under the proposed law, seen by ITV News, it would be a crime to sell tickets for sporting and cultural events without providing buyers waiting in online queues with the price and the number of tickets available to purchase at that price.
It would also be an offence to sell a ticket that doesn't have the price it was sold for printed on the face of it. This applies to anyone selling tickets, including ticketing businesses.
Those who fail to do so - which applies to anyone selling tickets in England and Wales, including ticketing businesses - would face a conviction and a fine.
Ticket sellers must also provide real-time updates to buyers waiting in online queues to show how many tickets are available, what type of tickets they are, and the prices, Huq explained to ITV News.
Rupa Huq explains the provisions that would be put in place to make sure buyers aren't ripped off
"As they reduce, that updates in real time, and the price," she said.
"So you can leave the queue whenever you want because there was enormous pressure on people [Oasis fans] - they felt after they've invested so much time in it, it was a bit of a gun to the head situation.
"They felt they had to buy it. And then, you know, buyers remorse afterwards maybe at the price it's got to.
"You wouldn't take a can of beans off the shelf in the supermarket and then by the time you've got to the till it's doubled, tripled, gone five times the price, so it's just a consumer fairness measure for transparency," added the MP for Ealing Central and Acton.
Huq, who said she watched Oasis live in the 1990s, told the Commons last week that since introducing the private members' bill, she's been "deluged with suggestions and support worldwide from people not wanting another Oasis-style ticket scandal".
Fans of the iconic Britpop band were left reeling when they were charged more than double the advertised price for tickets after waiting hours in an online Ticketmaster queue.
Many who joined the queue with hopes of getting their hands on the coveted tickets did so believing they'd be charged £148 for a standard ticket, but when they got through to the payment page they were shocked to discover the price had risen to £355.
Consumer watchdog Which? has urged Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund fans hit by inflated costs, saying it has seen evidence proving fans were not shown a warning message that prices would increase during the sale.
Ticketmaster said "all ticket prices are set by the tour" but Oasis said they weren't aware that dynamic pricing - when prices fluctuate based on demand - was going to be used.
The government and the UK’s competition watchdog has pledged to look into ticket resales and dynamic pricing - but ministers have also acknowledged that the practice can be beneficial when it provides cheaper early bird tickets.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said this issue is "incredibly important to fans up and down the country".
"We have announced a consultation in order to put fans back at the heart of the way ticketing is done in this country," she told Huq in the Commons last week.
"The consultation will consider how best to do this, not whether to do it, and we'll be announcing more about this imminently."
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