Atypical case of ticket scalping means ticket buyers buying tickets not fortheir own use but rather with the intention of reselling the tickets to othersat a price higher than the original price, thereby making a huge profit. Thispractice is particularly prevalent when popular domestic or foreign artistshold concerts or when sports events are organized. Tickets often sell outduring the initial sales stage, only to be later found being resold online atseveral times the original price.

■Popular sports games and concerts often have tickets in high demand,leading to the emergence of scalpers.

Sincethe act of selling scalpers tickets affects other consumers' opportunities tobuy tickets and unjustly manipulate the market price of tickets for one’s ownprofits, there have been calls for legislation to control the selling of scalperstickets. However, at the same time, the ticket purchasing services, i.e.,purchasing tickets and reselling them to others after adding a certain servicefee, which have boomed in recent years, make it difficult to judge whether suchacts are also an act of selling scalpers tickets.

The firstprovision that penalizes the selling of scalpers tickets is Subparagraph 2 ofArticle 64 of the Social Order Maintenance Act, which penalizes such conduct bydetention of not more than 3 days or a fine of not more than NTD 18,000. As forscalpers selling train tickets for high speed rail tickets, Paragraph 1 ofArticle 65 of the Railway Act also provides relevant penalties. However, judicialprecedent that refers to the penalty doctrine for the offense of scalping hasestablished that if the tickets were obtained free of charge or throughcommission rather than purchased, or if the case was established through policedisguise as consumers to make purchases where no genuine intention to purchasethe ticket is demonstrated, the perpetrator is typically deemed not to havecompleted the offense. Thus, the conduct cannot be punished. As a result, theprovision’s effect on curbing scalpers tickets is very limited. In addition,with the development of technologies, it is common to use "bots" topurchase tickets in large quantities, which is also a conduct that affects the consumers’rights to purchase tickets. However, currently there are no regulations to copewith the situation.

■As the regulations becoming stricter, ticket purchase by using bots mightbecome illegal.

Withrespect to this situation, on May 31, 2023, Article 10-1 of the Development ofthe Cultural and Creative Industries Act was added. It provides that thoseselling tickets for more than their face value or set price shall be liable,depending on the number of tickets, for a fine by the Competent Authority ofbetween 10 and 50 times the face value or set price of the ticket; wherefraudulent information is provided via computer or other equipment or otherirregularities occur when purchasing tickets or obtaining claim tickets toartistic or cultural events, the penalty shall be a maximum three years’imprisonment with possibility of parole, a fine of no more than NT$3 million,or both.

Inaddition, in view of the booming development of domestic sports events and thefact that there are many people who buy sports tickets and resell them at highprices, on January 3, 2024, Article 24-1 of the Sports Industry Development Actwas added to include sports tickets in the regulations, and to make it clearthat even if the tickets are free of charge, if they are sold at a price, thecompetent authority can still impose a penalty based on the number of tickets.

Regardingthe provisions in Subparagraph 2 of Article 64 of the Social Order MaintenanceAct, Taiwan Taichung District Court Criminal Ruling 112-Zhi-Zi No. 152 alsopointed out that, if the perpetrator has already committed the act of on-sitesolicitation or online sale, which are important stages of the offense, it maybe held as an accomplished offense and is punishable.

Insummary, Taiwan's regulations and judicial practice on the sale of scalperstickets are becoming increasingly stringent, and even impose criminal penaltieson the use of "ticket snatching bots." Therefore, it is recommendedthat, in addition to refraining from scalping, people should exercise cautionwhen engaging in the purchase of tickets on behalf of others. As long as theresale price exceeds the face value of the ticket, such acts may be in violationof the law.

Thisarticle was published in the Expert’s Commentary Column of the Commercial Timeshttps://www.ctee.com.tw/news/20240314700093-431305

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