By DEE-ANN DURBIN
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it should soon require hotels, vacation rental platforms and live event organizers to accomplish that disclose any fees upfront when prices are listed.
“People deserve to know in advance what will be required of them, without fear of being hit with mysterious fees later that they did not plan for and cannot avoid,” the FTC Chairman said Lina Khan said in an announcement.
The regulation is attributable to come into force in 120 days.
Ticketmaster said Tuesday it supports the brand new rule.
“Ticketmaster has long advocated for flat pricing as the nationwide industry standard and we are pleased that the FTC is mandating the necessary changes to make ticket purchasing more transparent for fans,” the corporate said.
The Associated Press left a message looking for comment with the American Hotel and Lodging Association on Tuesday.
Four of the FTC's five commissioners voted to approve the rule. Commissioner Andrew Ferguson— who’s President-elect Donald Trump to interchange Khan was the one dissenting vote.
The regulation requires accommodation and ticketing corporations to obviously and conspicuously disclose actual costs – including all mandatory fees – when displaying prices. Companies that exclude taxes or shipping costs from advertised prices must also disclose these before customers enter payment information.
The FTC estimates that the rule will save U.S. consumers 53 million hours per 12 months trying to find actual prices for accommodations or events.
The FTC began the rulemaking process in 2022 and invited the general public to comment on whether a fee disclosure rule could help eliminate unfair and misleading pricing. The agency said greater than 12,000 people commented.
Junk fees and misleading prices are also considered one of the explanations behind this Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment earlier this 12 months. The government asked a court to separate the businesses, saying that they had a monopoly on concert promoting and ticket sales, driving up prices for consumers.
The Biden administration has also targeted the charging practices of US airlinesBanks and online payment platforms.
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