No doubt the most common complaint about buying event tickets, besides having to deal with lagging websites during peak demand times, is the presence of hidden fees, surcharges, and the various tack-ons ticket providers are notorious for.

Hidden fees and seemingly arbitrary charges significantly increase the price of tickets, sticking customers with a hefty bill packed with vague fees like “processing”, “handling”, and our personal favourite, “printing”.

As we noted back in September, ticket companies love keeping these tack-ons a secret, because when they’re transparent about them, it tends to affect their business. Translation: people immediately call bullshit.

It’s important to note, of course, that Australian consumers are lucky to have laws in place that prevent misleading pricing and hidden tacked-on fees when purchasing tickets, but credit card surcharges continue to be a bane for many consumers.

But according to a new report from consumer watchdog CHOICE, Australians may soon have better protection from excessive credit card surcharges, with new legislation giving the ACCC the power to crack down on companies who engage in the practice.

Under the new legislation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be better equipped to go after airlines, ticketing companies, and even taxis who “punish consumers” with exorbitant credit card surcharges.

As CHOICE details, in many cases the surcharges don’t even come close to reflecting the real cost of processing a credit card. For example, when CHOICE investigated a selection of Aussie airlines, they found some were charging mark-ups of up to 1,187 percent.

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QANTAS, for example, placed a $7 surcharge on a cheap flight, about 348 percent higher than it should have been. But the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Bill 2015 is looking to put an end to these shenanigans.

“We are delighted that the ACCC has finally been given the power to investigate if a surcharge is fair and issue infringement notices of up to $108,000 for companies that don’t play by the rules,” said CHOICE spokesperson Tom Godfrey.

The legislation still needs a few months to become legit as the Reserve Bank finalises regulation, but it looks as though we may soon see cheaper tickets for concerts, taxis, and even flights.

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