Policy background Miscellaneous Secondary ticketing
The government recognises that the process for distributing and buying tickets can often be a cause for public frustration and concern. New rules regarding tickets offered for sale on the secondary ticketing market were introduced in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 ("the 2015 Act") . These came into force on 27 May 2015 and related mainly to the information that should be provided to purchasers using the secondary ticketing platforms.
	The Act builds on the 2015 Act, introducing a new duty to require secondary ticketing sites and sellers to provide a unique ticket number where one has been assigned originally. The unique ticket number may be used to verify the validity of tickets with events organisers. The Act also provides the power to introduce a criminal offence in order to address the use of automated software to purchase tickets for a recreational, sporting or cultural event in excess of the maximum set by events organisers.