Now, live event businesses and hotels must clearly list their prices in both their advertising and pricing information. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Now, live event businesses and hotels must clearly list their prices in both their advertising and pricing information.
American consumers on Tuesday got one step closer to never again paying a hidden “junk fee.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it’s finalized a rule that requires live event businesses and hotels to disclose the total price, including fees, up front. This means that a product’s price must be clearly communicated in both its advertising and its pricing information. The rule does not prohibit these businesses from adding fees, nor does it limit the amount of fees that they can charge, it just mandates they disclose those fees up front.
Officials say that the rule could save consumers up to 53 million hours of wasted time per year, as many spend time searching for the actual total price for tickets and lodging before paying.
The final rule was approved in a 4-to-1 vote and is currently scheduled to go into effect within 120 days.
“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay — without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in the press release announcing the rule.
Tuesday’s announcement caps off a years-long effort from the Biden-Harris administration to reign in junk fees.
Efforts to increase price transparency in the ticketing industry sped up following the debacle that was selling tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Fans from around the world expressed outrage over what many called “exorbitant” hidden fees, as well as platform outages. This led to lawsuits from fans and investigations on both the state and the federal level.
Since then, the federal government has announced rules and regulations demanding price transparency and fewer junk fees from ticketing companies, internet and cable companies, and online marketplaces.
Additionally, earlier this year the US House of Representatives passed the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing, or TICKET, Act, which will require ticket sellers to “disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees, and for other purposes.”
The bill has yet to be voted on in the Senate.
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