Dutch Legislature Debates Secondary Ticketing Proposal

March 19, 2010 by Vignesh · Leave a Comment

A proposed bill that would dampen predatory profiteering in the secondary ticket market has been debated on the floor in the Dutch legislature. The proposal, forwarded by MPs Arda Gerkens (Socialist Party) and Van Vroonhoven-Kok (CDA) would limit markups in the industry to 10% with the aim being to keep prices to culture and sporting events at affordable levels for the average citizen.

Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven (CDA) was critical of the proposal, asserting that current laws can handle any problems, and that more drastic moves such as banning resale would be both expensive and it would too difficult to implement controls. Furthermore she wondered if the proposal would even be within European Union rules. She stated the industry itself should do more to address issues and opined that the concert industry had options such as shortening the time between tickets becoming available and the event dates.

The Netherlands have seen the secondary ticketing industry grow from a single site in 1998 to more than 24 sites to date, including a three-fold increase in the past five years.

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks