The Ontario government is more than doubling the maximum fine for ticket scalping ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Starting next Wednesday, Ontario is raising the maximum penalty for repeat offenders from $10,000 to $25,000, just days before the FIFA World Cup is set to begin in Toronto.
The government says these new and enhanced enforcement tools will protect consumers from exploitative resellers and help more Ontarians attend live events.
“If one game is more important than the other and they put up the prices, that’s the market. But if they have a ticket face value and they’re selling it for a lot more, then they’re going to hear from us. They aren’t exempt,” Premier Doug Ford says.
“These measures will help ensure tickets are available to the people who want to be in the stands cheering on their favourite teams and athletes, rather than being snapped up by unfair price gouging,” Minister of Sport Neil Lumsden says.
The province says it’ll also allow officials to publicly identify any businesses handed a fine.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity tech analyst Ritesh Kotak says the legislation is a step in the right direction.
He says it discourages raising prices, and may actually encourage decreasing them.
“If they had already priced their ticket in a particular manner, and I get the supply and demand component of this, but if they’ve already set that number in those tickets that have already been issued, I think they’re going to increase the price — that’s going to be problematic,” said Kotak. “But if they’re going to decrease the price, I think that goes in the spirit of what the legislation is trying to do, which is to make it more affordable for Canadians to attend these events.”
Kotak also says the public can find out what businesses have been issued fines, if they know where to look, but he believes the government may make that information even more accessible to discourage the practice.
With Files From The Canadian Press
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