A new bill has been passed by the state of New York which means ticketing companies will not be able to hide their fees and present them towards the end of a purchase anymore.
Two major policies have been introduced to provide transparency for ticket buyers; ticket sellers must include fees upfront and ticket resellers have to disclose how much was originally paid for the tickets being resold.
It will also be illegal to sell tickets that were originally free, and ticket retailers will not be able to charge delivery fees on purchases that don’t require a delivery.
The bill was passed on Friday by New York’s assembly, but it has to be signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
New policies take effect 60 days after being signed into law.
New York State Senator James Skoufis, who sponsored the bill, told Rolling Stone that better transparency can help ticket buyers make more informed decisions. He said: “Information is power in this space as it is in any other marketplace. When we pass regulations like this, people will be able to know ‘am I getting a good deal or a bad deal?’
“If they’re getting a bad deal and if they get marked up three, four, 10 times and they still want to buy the ticket, God bless them. But they deserve to know the answer to that fundamental question: Am I getting ripped off here or not?”
While the new policies cannot outright prevent predatory scalping and extortionate fees, the new measures can provide ticket buyers with more security.
Image: Michael Discenza on Unsplash
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