Brazil has put new national rules around concert and festival ticketing into force, widening the focus beyond resale to include fees, queues, transfers and automated buying. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Decree No. 13,108 on 31 August, according to TicketNews and Brazilian outlet G1. It covers sales through box offices, websites, apps and other channels for concerts, festivals and other ticketed events, while sport is governed separately.
For buyers, the most immediate change is price visibility. TicketNews reports that primary and secondary sellers must show the total price and associated fees from the beginning of the purchase process, and keep them visible. G1 likewise says buyers must see the total price, a breakdown of fees and information about their place in a virtual queue, including the number of people ahead and an estimated wait.
The decree also reaches a familiar point of frustration during a busy onsale. Once a ticket is selected and the buyer has entered the pre-purchase stage, TicketNews says it must be held long enough for the transaction to be completed. The price and fees cannot change during that reservation because of a new tier, inventory batch or dynamic-pricing mechanism. A remaining-time display is also required.
Automated bulk buying is another explicit target. G1 quotes the decree requiring original sellers to prevent mass, abusive or speculative acquisition through automated systems, software, scripts or other means. Both reports say organisers and sellers can use tools such as virtual queues, preregistration and per-customer limits for high-demand events. TicketNews says the detailed measures on anti-bot controls take effect 20 days after publication, rather than with the bulk of the decree on 1 September.
Brazil has not imposed a hard cap on resale prices. That distinction matters. TicketNews reports that resale marketplaces must tell buyers when a listing exceeds the original face value, identify whether a seller is an individual or business, and make clear that the platform is not an official sales channel. G1 similarly lists face-value disclosure, a warning where the price is higher, detection of habitual or organised resale patterns, and removal or suspension of irregular listings.
The framework gives ticket holders a right to transfer ownership without a fee, but it does not remove the official seller from that process. TicketNews says transfers must happen through the official ticketing platform or a system it provides, allowing the issuer to update records and retain a transfer history. Both reports also describe full refunds, including fees, when an event is cancelled, postponed or materially changed; a buyer may instead use a rescheduled ticket or accept credit where that option is offered.
There are further rules on Brazil's half-price ticket programme. G1 reports that sellers cannot artificially limit access to those tickets, use fees to hollow out the discount, or substitute commercial promotions for the statutory entitlement. TicketNews says companies must keep records showing how fees were calculated and what service or operating cost they relate to. The decree also bars duplicate or unsupported charges.
The change arrives while Brazil's consumer authorities have been examining resale platforms. TicketNews reports that the National Consumer Secretariat opened proceedings involving Viagogo in July and later actions involving FunBuyNet and Buyticket over marketplace disclosures. Those proceedings are not a finding against every resale business, but they show the regulatory setting in which the nationwide rules landed. What happens in practice, including enforcement of bot controls and resale disclosures, remains untested.
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