Ontario Issues First Anti-Scalping Fine to SeatGeek
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The province penalized the ticket reseller $25,000, but the company claims compliance guidance remains unclear.
Ontario has issued a $25,000 fine to ticket reseller SeatGeek Canada, marking what appears to be the first financial penalty under a law enacted in April that caps ticket sales at face value. According to reporting from CityNews Toronto, the province's consumer-beware website indicates no other resellers have been fined.
The penalties, issued in late August, are broken down into three specific violations: $10,000 for allegedly selling a ticket above face value, $5,000 for failing to disclose a ticket's original purchase price, and $10,000 for facilitating a transaction without proof of the original price.
While the province is now enforcing the legislation, the industry argues the rules are impractical. SeatGeek and fellow reseller StubHub have stated that verifying the initial price paid by resellers is too difficult. Joe Freeman, SeatGeek’s vice-president of government affairs, noted that the company is still seeking guidance from the province on how to comply with the law. Freeman did not specify if SeatGeek intends to pay the fines or contest them.
When questioned about which specific events triggered the penalties or if more fines are coming, Cristian Buzo Tingarov, a spokesperson for Stephen Crawford, the Ontario Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, did not provide answers.