PETALING JAYA: Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil says he will discuss the issue of scalpers reselling tickets for British rock band Coldplay’s concert here with his counterpart at the domestic trade and cost of living ministry, Salahuddin Ayub.
In a Tweet, Fahmi shared a screenshot from a news report which stated that “Coldplay tickets are being resold for up to RM43,000”.
Fahmi said concert ticket prices come under the purview of the domestic trade and cost of living ministry.
“This is too much. God willing, I’ll raise the matter with Salahuddin,” he said.
Fans of Coldplay on Twitter vented their frustrations on Fahmi’s Twitter page after being unable to purchase tickets for the British rock band’s concert at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Nov 22 when sales started yesterday.
“It’s good that (the minister) is finally raising this matter. It’s not only this concert, it happens at other concerts too. When the artist is in high demand, they (scalpers) will take advantage (to resell at high prices),” said user @MazniAz.
Another user also shared a screenshot claiming a scalper managed to purchase 400 tickets to Coldplay’s concert to resell to the public.
Meanwhile, media outlets have reported that ticket marketplace Viagogo is selling Category 2 tickets, which were originally priced at RM228, for RM1,749 – almost eight times the original price.
On Carousell, Category 4 and 5 tickets, originally priced at RM598 and RM498, were being sold for RM2,499 and RM3,000 respectively.
The most popular Category 3 standing zone tickets, which originally cost RM658, are now being sold for about RM1,400.
Some users have called for better ways to manage ticket sales, such as limiting ticket purchases by requiring buyers to input their MyKad numbers when buying tickets.
“There should be a limit of two tickets for each MyKad number so others won’t be disappointed and there won’t be scalpers,” said Twitter user @hrashidah3.
