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Australia plans to ban “dynamic pricing” amid rising anger from fans faced with soaring prices as they try to buy in-demand tickets to see their favourite bands.
“We’re taking strong action to stop businesses from engaging in dodgy practices that rip consumers off,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, as he outlined plans to strengthen consumer laws after a Treasury consultation.
The move by the Labor government comes amid outrage about dynamic pricing, where prices change according to demand. The backlash has grown around the world, with UK fans of bands such as Oasis complaining about prices jumping as they waited in the online queue to buy them.
In Australia, dynamic pricing has been used for some sporting events, including this year’s Australian Grand Prix and Australian Open tennis tournament. Then fans complained that tickets billed as “in demand” on TicketMaster’s website were being sold for as much as A$6,000 (US$4,000). But fans were particularly outraged last month when tickets to see punk band Green Day went on sale and prices for shows in Sydney quickly soared above the initial price shown. Tickets were sold at more than three times their face value at A$500.
Ticketmaster is owned by Live Nation, the US tour promotion company behind many of the biggest international concert tours in Australia including Green Day. It has defended the use of dynamic pricing in the past, saying that the artists set the price and it allows flexibility in determining the market value of the ticket while also cracking down on online ticket touts. Its main rival in Australia is TEG, which is owned by Silver Lake and does not use dynamic pricing.
The move comes ahead of an election due in 2025 that will be largely fought over the cost of living with Australia’s political parties battling to secure support amid a steep rise in rents, food and services over the past year. “Hidden fees and traps are putting even more pressure on the cost of living and it needs to stop,” said Albanese on Tuesday.
As well as dynamic pricing, the government is targeting so-called subscription traps that deliberately confuse or deter customers from cancelling services, “drip pricing” — where fees are hidden or added during the course of a purchase — and deceptive behaviour designed to create a false sense of urgency or scarcity.
Stephen Jones, Australia’s assistant treasurer, said that the moves would strengthen consumer protection in the digital world where airline and concert tickets are predominantly bought. “Consumer protections shouldn’t stop at the internet,” he said in a statement.
The British government said last month it would open a consultation into the use of dynamic pricing after Oasis fans complained of soaring prices to see the band’s reunion.
It is unclear when the Australian ban on dynamic pricing will be introduced. Other sectors, such as airlines and ride-sharing services, use similar practices when demand jumps but are not expected to be subject to the ban as they advertise the higher price upfront.
Ben Green, a cultural sociologist with Griffith University, said dynamic pricing used by airlines and hotel sites did not trigger the same response as concert tickets. “This seems to be one of those issues where there’s a passionate reaction from the public that something is beyond the pale,” he said.