“Q Parliament” by Ashwin Kumar is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

New legislation has been introduced in Quebec that would advance new consumer protections in the live event ticketing industry, including a cap on resale prices. The bill proposed by Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette seeks to amend the province’s existing consumer protections platform to take action against an exploitative aftermarket through information access and regulated coordination between event producers and resale sites.

“It’s not normal to have to pay seven times the original ticket price to see a show. And yet, these situations happen regularly,” Jolin-Barrette said. “We have a duty to act both for citizens who feel cheated and to protect Quebec’s cultural economy. Neither the Quebec entertainment industry nor Quebec artists see a penny of the profits made by resellers. Families already make a lot of effort to manage their budgets, and every dollar counts. We want to ensure that when they spend, they can do so wisely and get value for their money.”

The proposed legislation would require that digital ticket resale platforms prominently disclose their status as a resale platform, and that tickets may be available at a lower price through the original vendor; sites with a mixed inventory must inform customers which listed tickets are for resale. In the resale path to purchase, consumers must also be notified of the original face value price and the precise ticket details (seat and identity of the ticket’s last owner), and after purchase, vendors are required to immediately share new information regarding cancellations or changes, obtained through communication with event producers. Fees on the free transfer of tickets between individuals would also be prohibited.

The most promising stipulation is a rule that ticket resale prices must not exceed the authorized vendor’s original price, unless authorized by the event producer. If consent for price inflation is obtained, resale sites are required to detail the producer’s agreed-upon maximum resale price to consumers.

Read more about Quebec’s Bill 10, including proposed penalties, here.