The law on Secondary Ticketing, also called the "Battelli Law", from the name of its first proponent, is an amendment to the Budget Law no. 145 of 30 December 2018, created to counter the proliferation of sales of higher-priced tickets through unofficial channels and websites ("Secondary Ticketing phenomenon”).
The Revenue Agency published (on June 27, 2019) a provision that contains the implementing measures regarding the sale or any other form of placement of tickets, pursuant to Article 1, paragraphs 545-bis and following, of the Law 11 December 2016, n. 232, introduced by article 1, paragraph 1100, of Law no. 145, and the Decree of the Ministery of Economy and Finance of the 12th of March 2018, as well as changes to the rules relating to automated ticketing systems.
To prevent the purchase of tickets by automatic programs, the law establishes:
- that each user, throughout the purchase, passes the CAPTCHA check for all events that take place in venues with a capacity of up to 1000 seats.
- that, in order to purchase tickets on official online ticketing sites (for events with a capacity of over 1000 seats), each user must necessarily be registered with the indication of name, surname, date and place of birth, e-mail address, mobile number and identified by OTP validation via SMS of their mobile phone number.
- that, for events with a capacity of over 1000 seats, each user can purchase up to a maximum of 10 tickets in total per event
- that, for events in venues with a capacity of more than 5,000 seats, each issued ticket must be personalized and the correct full name of the ticket user is mandatory. The legislation also establishes the personal recognition of the participant in the event through effective controls and mechanisms. On the day of the event, to access, a valid identity document will therefore also be required to verify the correctness of the name on the ticket. If the data don’t match, the ticket loses its validity and access to the event will not be allowed.
Not all entertainment activities are subject to this legislation. For example, pop music concerts are, while opera, symphonic and chamber performances, theatre, jazz, ballet, dance, contemporary circus and sporting events, in which a specific discipline applies are excluded. For more details, please refer to the complete text of the AE Provision
