Taiwan Draws Sword Over Blackpink Scalping Controversy, Imposes 50x Fine

Blackpink Concert Ticket Prices Soar Up to 45 Times Face Value
Legislative Assembly to Impose Fines Up to 50 Times for Scalping
Up to 3 Years Imprisonment for Macro Usage Detection

As the issue of ticket scalping continues with K-pop girl group BLACKPINK concert tickets in Taiwan being sold for about 17 million KRW, the Taiwanese Legislative Yuan passed a bill imposing fines up to 50 times the ticket price on scalpers.

In March, the BLACKPINK World Tour concert was held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
[Photo by BLACKPINK Official Twitter]

According to Taiwanese media including United Daily News on the 16th, the Legislative Yuan passed the amendment to the 'Cultural and Creative Industries Development Act' on the 12th with bipartisan support to eradicate ticket scalping.

According to the amendment, if tickets for arts and cultural performances are resold at prices exceeding the face value or official price, they will all be considered scalped tickets, and fines ranging from 10 to 50 times the ticket’s face value or official price can be imposed regardless of whether the resale is completed.

Additionally, if caught purchasing tickets through unfair means such as false data or using plugins or macro programs, offenders may face imprisonment of up to three years and fines up to 3 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 130 million KRW).

The Taiwanese Ministry of Culture plans to offer rewards for reporting scalpers, paying up to 100,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 4.34 million KRW), which is within 20% of the imposed fine.

The Ministry emphasized, "Whistleblowers can report regardless of whether their names are disclosed," and stressed that "the selling price must never exceed the face value."

Earlier in March, the scalped ticket prices for BLACKPINK’s world tour concert held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, sparked controversy as they soared up to 45 times the official price.

At that time, the concert ticket price was 8,800 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 380,000 KRW), but scalped tickets were reportedly traded for up to 400,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 17 million KRW).

During the Super Junior world tour concert held at Taipei Arena in November last year, tickets priced at 5,800 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 250,000 KRW) were reportedly sold through scalping at 100,000 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 4.34 million KRW), 17 times the official price.

Taiwanese media pointed out that ticket scalping never ceases whenever popular K-pop concerts are held.