Commentary on Sections Part 3 Miscellaneous and General Duty to provide information about tickets Section 92: Duty to report criminal activity
503.This section provides that, where the operator of a secondary ticketing facility is aware of criminal activity on that facility, a relevant report must be made to the police and to the event organiser. This section applies to criminal activity related to the resale of tickets (though there may be other reporting requirements which apply where this is not the case).
504.Criminal activity means where an offence is committed, under the law of any part of the UK. There are several pieces of legislation breach of which could lead to an offence being committed. However this provision is intended to cover legislation for which the authorities listed here (that is, the police) are one of the principal enforcers. This includes offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Theft Act 1968.
505.Subsection (3) specifies that the information to be reported is—where this is known to the operator—the identity of the person committing the offence (for example their company name or an individual’s name) and the fact that the operator knows that a criminal offence is or has been committed.
506.The report must be made to a police force within the United Kingdom. Where, for example, the facility is aware that the person is based in England the report could be made to a police constable in England. Where there is a lead police force for a particular crime (for example fraud) that force might be the appropriate police force to which the report can be made. A report must also be made to the organiser of the relevant event(s), that is, where the criminal activity involves tickets for a particular event, the organiser of that event must be informed. However, under subsection (5) such a report is not required if it would prejudice the investigation of an offence (not just the one being reported). In practice, this might mean that—where the facility has some doubt—the report is first made to the police who can advise whether a report to an event organiser would prejudice an investigation.
507.The criminal activity can be either ongoing or have already occurred, however the operator of the facility need only report offences which it became aware of after this provision comes into force.