TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs is offering a 15% discount on the rental of Taipei Arena for promoters who sell tickets via a “real name” system.

Concert promoters can potentially save up to NT$283,500 (US$8,650) per day by adopting the system. The real-name ticketing system requires concertgoers to present an ID matching the name on the ticket for entry into the venue, thereby prohibiting ticket resales or scalping, per UDN.

The department believes adoption of the real-name system is effective in curbing ticket scalping behavior. It may, however, lead to extra costs for promoters as more staff are needed to check IDs, and concertgoers could experience delays entering the arena.

Taipei Arena rental fees are calculated based on estimated ticket revenue for each show, with a minimum rental fee of NT$525,000 per show and a maximum fee of NT$1.89 million per show. If a real-name system is adopted, the organizer could save between NT$78,750 and NT$283,500 per day.

The department said the discount will be effective from now until the end of the year. It added the discount is also retroactively applicable to concert events that have already signed contracts with the venue.

There were 57 cases of ticket scalping reported from the start of the year up to Tuesday, according to the department. Fines have been issued in accordance with the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Act, with each case facing a potential fine of up to NT$2.646 million, and cumulative fines are expected to exceed NT$14.29 million.

The department said reselling tickets for arts and cultural events at a higher price can incur fines of 10 to 50 times the original ticket price.

The public can report infractions on the Ministry of Culture's scalper reporting website. If the report is verified, a reporting reward of 20% of the fine will be issued, with a maximum reward of up to NT$100,000.