European UnionUnfair Commercial Practices Directive, Annex I point 23a (reselling event tickets acquired by automated means that circumvent a purchase limit)
Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I, point 23a
In force since .
An unfair competition rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- This Directive is addressed to the Member States, so a trader meets this rule through national law; Member States had to apply their measures implementing point 23a from (Article 7(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/2161).
- Do not resell event tickets to consumers if you acquired them by using automated means to circumvent any limit imposed on the number of tickets that a person can buy or any other rules applicable to the purchase of tickets (Annex I, point 23a); the practice is in all circumstances regarded as unfair (Article 5(5)).
- The rule reaches a trader, meaning a natural or legal person acting for purposes relating to a trade, business, craft or profession, or anyone acting in the name of or on behalf of a trader, in a commercial practice directed at consumers (Article 2, point (b), and Article 3(1)).
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Article 13(3): when penalties are imposed in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, Member States must include the possibility of fines whose maximum amount is at least 4 percent of the trader's annual turnover in the Member State or Member States concerned, and Article 13(3) lets a Member State restrict such fines for national constitutional reasons to infringements of Articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and of Annex I and to a trader's continued use of a commercial practice that the competent national authority or court has found to be unfair, when that practice is not an infringement of those provisions. Article 13(4) requires a possible maximum of at least EUR 2 million where information on annual turnover is not available. These are minimums for the maximum each Member State's own law must provide, not a cap the Union applies directly; Article 13(1) otherwise requires penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Turnover percentage cap
- 4
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Each Member State's courts or administrative authorities, before which persons or organizations with a legitimate interest in combating unfair commercial practices, including competitors, may take action under national law (Article 11(1)).
What this law does
Directive (EU) 2019/2161 inserted point 23a into Annex I to Directive 2005/29/EC. Point 23a covers reselling event tickets to consumers if the trader acquired them by using automated means to circumvent any limit imposed on the number of tickets that a person can buy or any other rules applicable to the purchase of tickets.
Article 5(5) provides that Annex I contains the list of commercial practices which shall in all circumstances be regarded as unfair, and that the same single list applies in all Member States. Article 5(1) provides that unfair commercial practices shall be prohibited.
Article 3(1) applies the Directive to unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices, before, during and after a commercial transaction in relation to a product. Article 2, point (b), defines a trader as any natural or legal person who, in commercial practices covered by the Directive, is acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, and anyone acting in the name of or on behalf of a trader.
Recital 50 of Directive (EU) 2019/2161 states that traders should be prohibited from reselling to consumers tickets to cultural and sports events that they have acquired by using software such as bots enabling them to buy tickets in excess of the technical limits imposed by the primary ticket seller or to bypass any other technical means put in place by the primary seller to ensure accessibility of tickets for all individuals.
Recital 50 adds that the prohibition is without prejudice to any other national measures that Member States can take to protect the legitimate interests of consumers and to secure cultural policy and broad access of all individuals to cultural and sports events, such as regulating the resale price of the tickets.
Article 7(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/2161 required Member States to adopt and publish the measures necessary to comply with it by and to apply them from . Article 13(1) requires Member States to lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to the Directive, which must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Article 13(3) requires that, when penalties are to be imposed in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, Member States include the possibility of fines whose maximum amount is at least 4 % of the trader's annual turnover in the Member State or Member States concerned.
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