The Dutch Ticket Act (Ticketwet), which would have given customers power to claim reimbursement if they bought tickets for more than 20 per cent above face value, has been rejected in the Senate.
Jasper van Dijk, a Dutch member of parliament, criticised the vote as a “huge missed opportunity.”
Van Dijk and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)’s Madeleine van Toorenburg proposed the bill in which consumers would have been able to reclaim the amount they overpaid for a ticket.
“With this law, notorious ticket brokers would have been struck a major blow,” said van Dijk. “It is sad that the ticket mafia has now been given free rein by the senate. That PvdA [Labour party] and CDA MPs chose [to vote this way] is unimaginable.”
Despite the bill being launched seven years ago and having already been passed in the lower house, the bill received ‘no’ votes in the Senate from the Labour Party, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and other CDA MPs.
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) earlier this year threatened to fine any operators adding extra fees during the booking process, such as administrative or print costs.
ACM gave operators until October 1 to comply with Dutch law, which stipulates that vendors must include and display all unavoidable costs in the base price and at the start of the booking process.
All ticket vendors in the Netherlands are now compliant with consumer law over drip pricing.
Image: Bas Stoffelsen / SP
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