KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) is drafting specific regulations to curb ticket scalping in the country, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh said the regulations were being drafted under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723), as existing laws did not contain specific provisions to address the practice.
She said Section 15(1) of Act 723 empowered the Minister to introduce regulations to curb the resale of tickets at excessively high prices.
“KPDN is engaging with event organisers and conducting benchmarking studies to establish a legal framework,” she said during the question-and-answer session.
She was responding to a question from Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) on the ministry’s measures to address ticket scalping.
Fuziah said the benchmarking study also involved examining legislation and approaches adopted by several countries, including Australia, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.
She said the key areas being considered in drafting the regulations included establishing a clear definition and scope of ticket scalping, regulating bulk ticket purchases and requiring ticket-holder identification on tickets.
Fuziah said the ministry was also examining the need for a specific mechanism to determine profiteering in ticket scalping cases, as existing regulations require three years of sales data, while event organisation generally involves a one-off activity.
Responding to a supplementary question from Mohd Isam on interim measures and the expected timeline for implementing the regulations, Fuziah said the ministry was continuing its efforts to raise public awareness of ticket scalping and protect consumers.
She said the proposed regulations did not need to be tabled in Parliament but must first be gazetted, a process expected to take at least six months before they could be fully enforced next year.
-- BERNAMA