Hong Kong government reviews measures to combat concert ticket scalping
Hong Kong lawmakers question the government on ticket scalping after a K-pop concert saw tickets resold at triple the price. The government outlines existing measures, including caps on internal ticket sales, and says it studies overseas实名制 systems but must balance market dynamics and investor confi
The Hong Kong government has responded to legislative questions about combating ticket scalping, after reports that tickets for a November 2026 concert by a South Korean boy band were resold by scalpers at three times the original price or more.
In a written reply published on 4 November, the government said it has long been concerned about ticket scalping and even counterfeit tickets, and is studying practices in mainland China and other jurisdictions. However, it noted that public entertainment is a market activity with many causes for scalping, including supply and demand. Any regulatory measures must be carefully considered for their impact on market reaction, operations, cost-effectiveness and enforcement, so as not to deter investors.
The government said the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Chapter 172) is primarily aimed at ensuring public safety and order at venues, including fire safety and crowd management. The provision banning resale of tickets above the original price was designed to prevent disturbances and public order problems caused by gangs. Anyone selling, offering to sell, displaying or possessing tickets for sale above the organiser's price, or soliciting others to buy such tickets, commits an offence punishable by a fine of HK$2,000.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) manages its venues under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. Unauthorised sales on LCSD premises are banned, and venue staff and security personnel patrol to stop such activities, calling police if necessary. The LCSD has not received any reports of scalping in the past three years, and police do not maintain separate figures for online or physical ticket scalping complaints.
The LCSD employs administrative measures to ensure fair ticket sales through its Cityline ticketing system. For large or popular events, it may adopt real-name registration or lottery systems, online-only sales, purchase limits per person and per credit card, advance publication of ticket details, delayed collection, and encouragement for organisers to increase the proportion of publicly available tickets. Since July 2019, for events of four or more performances at the Hong Kong Coliseum or Queen Elizabeth Stadium, the cap on internal (non-public) ticket sales has been lowered from 80 per cent to 70 per cent, raising the minimum public sale share to 30 per cent. Many organisers have voluntarily offered nearly or more than 50 per cent of tickets for public sale.
For events at the Kai Tak Sports Park, the operator requires organisers to announce sales arrangements in advance and generally demands at least 50 per cent of tickets be offered to the public. The operator also mandates that ticketing platforms monitor the purchase process and take measures such as blocking abnormal accounts and setting purchase limits.
The government said it will continue studying the issue and consulting stakeholders. It urged the public to buy tickets only through official channels to avoid fraud and not to fuel scalping.
