TAIPEI: Several major cities in Taiwan have endorsed initiatives to curb ticket scalping by encouraging the use of real-name registration for concerts held at publicly owned venues, the Ministry of Culture announced on Thursday. This support comes after a meeting with representatives from Taiwan's six special municipalities in December 2024, where the cities agreed to promote or adopt these anti-scalping measures.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Ministry of Culture revealed that some of the proposed incentives involve integrating real-name registration into rental contracts or offering discounts on venue rentals to promoters who use such a system for concerts exceeding 10,000 tickets. The Taipei City government intends to provide discounted rent to promoters who require real-name registration for ticket purchases at eligible venues or during peak seasons.
In addition, the Kaohsiung City government has committed to implementing similar measures at the venues it manages, as stated by the ministry. The ministry also expressed its commitment to assisting promoters with the costs associated with implementing real-name registration systems for ticket sales.
Ticket scalping has been a persistent issue in Taiwan, particularly affecting high-profile concerts in recent years. A notable incident involved scalped tickets for Mandopop singer Jay Chou's December 2024 concerts at the Taipei Dome, where resale prices soared to NT$300,000, more than 43 times the original ticket price. Police arrested several individuals for allegedly scalping tickets to Chou's concerts.
The legislative response to ticket scalping was an amendment to the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Act, which was passed in May 2023. This amendment imposes fines of 10 to 50 times the original ticket value for reselling tickets to cultural or artistic events at inflated prices. Additionally, individuals using proxies to secure tickets face potential prison terms of up to three years and/or fines reaching NT$3 million.