LCQ12: Combating ticket scalping
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Question:
It has been reported that a large number of fans were unable to purchase tickets through official channels for a concert to be held in Hong Kong in November 2026 by a South Korean male group, and subsequently ticket scalpers even marked up ticket prices to three times or more of the original price. There are views that ticket scalping activities not only undermine the rights and interests of consumers, but also deal a blow to Hong Kong's international image as an events capital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of complaints or reports received by the Police and other law enforcement departments about the scalping of concert tickets in the past three years, as well as the respective numbers of cases involving arrest, prosecution and successful conviction for suspected ticket scalping; regarding the use of bots to purchase tickets online and their illegal resale on social media and second-hand platforms by ticket scalpers, the specific cross-departmental technological methods and regulatory measures currently put in place by the Government to strengthen the combat against online proxy purchase and illegal resale activities;
(2) as the Leisure and Cultural Services Department adjusted the ceiling ratio of consignment tickets in July 2019, stipulating that the ceiling ratio of consignment tickets for productions comprising not more than three performances at the Hong Kong Coliseum and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium is 80 per cent, and that for productions comprising four or more performances is 70 per cent, whether the Government will consider further tightening the ceiling ratio of consignment tickets (e.g. lowering the ceiling ratio of consignment tickets for productions comprising four or more performances to 50 per cent, and correspondingly lowering the ceiling ratio of consignment tickets for productions comprising not more than three performances), so as to enhance transparency and increase the opportunities for the public to purchase tickets; if so, of the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the experience of implementing the real-name ticketing arrangement in the Mainland and other places such as Japan and Korea, consider requiring that for large-scale performance events with audience capacity exceeding a specified number (e.g. 10 000), event organisers and ticketing platforms must implement real-name ticketing arrangement and admission verification procedures to ensure that the identity of ticket purchasers and attendees matches with the identity documents and facial recognition results, and restricting the number of ticket transfers; if so, of the specific progress of the study and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; while implementing the real-name ticketing arrangement, the measures in place to safeguard the legitimate rights of members of the public in respect of ticket refunds or transfers in the event that they are unable to attend due to unforeseen incidents; and
(4) as there are views that the penalties under the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Cap. 172) and other legislation are on the low side, whether the Government will consider amending the relevant legislation to substantially increase the penalties for ticket scalping activities, or even introduce criminal liability, so as to effectively deter online and offline ticket scalping activities; if so, of the timetable for introducing legislative amendments; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Security Bureau, my consolidated reply to the question raised by Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon is as follows:
The Government has always been concerned about issues relating to ticket scalping and fake tickets, and has been studying how to tackle ticket scalping with reference to the practices and experiences of the Chinese Mainland and other places. Public entertainment activities are market-driven behaviours, and ticket scalping has multiple causes, involving various factors such as market structure and supply and demand. The Government need to adopt a prudent approach when considering the impact of any regulatory options on market response, marketing operations, cost-effectiveness and practical implementation, and strike an appropriate balance between market operations and audience experience, so as not to deter investors.
The Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Cap. 172) aims to ensure public safety and order at places of entertainment where members of the public congregate. It covers a number of aspects such as fire safety, building safety, electrical and mechanical equipment, ventilation, crowd management and hygiene. The relevant provision on prohibiting the resale of tickets at a price higher than its original amount aims to prevent nuisance and public order problems created by gangs and roughs who resell tickets. Any person who sells, or offers or exhibits or has in his possession for sale, or solicits the purchase of, any ticket or voucher at a price exceeding the amount fixed by the organiser for such a ticket or voucher shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of $2,000.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) manages the venues under its charge in accordance with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) (PHMSO) and the related subsidiary legislation. According to the PHMSO, no person shall sell any article within the area of the performance venues under the LCSD without authorisation. During the period when activities are held at the relevant LCSD venues, additional venue and security staff will also be deployed to patrol the area. If anyone is found engaging in trading or reselling tickets bought within such area, the venue staff will immediately stop the activity and request the person concerned to leave the venue. Assistance will be sought from the Police as and when necessary.
The Police do not maintain the number of reports concerning online or physical ticket scalping, and the LCSD had not received relevant reports during the last three years.
At present, the LCSD seeks to facilitate orderly and fair sales of tickets through official channels for the performances that are held at its venues and use the ticketing services of the Urban Ticketing System (URBTIX) under the LCSD through implementing different administrative measures. When handling ticketing for large-scale and popular events, the URBTIX proactively liaises with the event organisers on ticketing proposals which cater to individual programmes. These include considering the adoption of real-name ticketing arrangement or registered ballot ticketing arrangement; offering Internet, mobile app and telephone booking services only to prevent problems of order management, public safety and queuing gangs engaged by ticket scalpers that may arise from on-site queuing; setting a cap for the number of tickets each patron can purchase per transaction and imposing a limit on the number of tickets that can be purchased with the same credit card on the first day of ticket sales; increasing the transparency of ticketing information (including announcing in advance the date of sales, number of performances, number of tickets available for public sales, seating plan of the tickets available for sale, and designated channels used by event organisers for releasing ticketing information); implementing delayed ticket collection arrangement; and encouraging event organisers to increase the ratio of tickets for public sale to provide more tickets of this kind for the public.
On the proportion of tickets for public sale, the Government maintains active dialogue with the performing industry and timely reviews the ratio of tickets for public sale to consignment tickets for paid-admission events held at LCSD venues. Since July 2019, for the Hong Kong Coliseum (HKC) and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, the two performance venues that frequently host large-scale commercial entertainment events, the LCSD has lowered the ceiling proportion of consignment tickets from 80 per cent to 70 per cent for events with four or more performances, thereby raising the minimum proportion of tickets for public sale to 30 per cent. The LCSD also continues to encourage event organisers to further increase the ratio of public sale tickets. In recent years, a considerable number of event organisers hiring the HKC for staging pop concerts or large-scale events have responded positively by offering nearly, or even more than 50 per cent of their tickets for public sale.
As regards events held at the Kai Tak Sports Park, the Kai Tak Sports Park Limited (the Operator) requires event organisers to announce ticket sale arrangements well in advance. These include the dates for priority and public sales, the number of sessions, and the seating plan for tickets available for sale. Whilst the ratio between public sale tickets and consignment tickets remains a commercial decision between the Operator and the event organisers, the Operator generally requires organisers to make at least 50 per cent of the tickets available for public sale. Furthermore, to step up efforts against ticket scalping, the Operator also requires the ticketing platforms to enhance monitoring of the entire ticket-purchasing process and systems, and to adopt appropriate measures (including blocking anomalous accounts and setting ticket purchase limits) to protect consumer rights.
The Government will continue to study the matter and maintain communication with stakeholders to listen to their views. In any event, members of the public purchasing or obtaining unauthorised tickets carry risks and encourage ticket scalping. The Government advises members of the public to buy tickets through official channels to prevent loss from frauds.
Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:35
Issued at HKT 11:35
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