Govt to discuss laws against ticket scalpers: Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR – The government is open to the possibility of drawing up new legal provisions to deter ticket scalpers, said Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil. 

Speaking during a joint press conference with Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub in Parliament here today, Fahmi said such steps will be kickstarted once investigations have been completed into Coldplay ticket scalpers. 

“At this time in Malaysia, there is no law against scalpers. As such, we will work together with other ministries that host programmes involving the sale of online and offline tickets to see what laws are needed to avoid scalpers in the future. 

“For now, we are aiming to begin the investigation process (into Coldplay ticket scalpers). “The findings should be able to help us structure our discussions with other ministries and agencies on the necessary bills.”

He added that during a meeting yesterday between his and Salahuddin’s ministry as well as Coldplay concert organiser Live Nation Malaysia, it was decided that Salahuddin’s ministry would work with the organiser to identify scalpers. 

“Due to personal data protection aspects, the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) were unable to confirm if those who had purchased Coldplay tickets were authentic buyers or programmed bots. 

“Live Nation has identified some accounts (of potential scalpers). MCMC will aid in profiling issues where we will try to identify the users behind accounts reselling the tickets.”

Previously, Fahmi tweeted that a Coldplay CAT1 resale ticket priced at RM43,200 is excessive, adding that ticket prices are under the purview of Salahuddin’s ministry. 

Coldplay, who are scheduled to perform at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on November 22, saw tickets sold out within hours, causing fans to be up in arms when scalpers started selling their seats on social media and reselling platforms such as Viagogo. 

On its Twitter page, after announcing that the concert had sold out, Live Nation Malaysia received a slew of complaints from netizens over the poor functioning of their ticketing purchasing platform.

However, moments later, netizens took it upon themselves to ask for an additional show by Coldplay. – The Vibes, May 23, 2023