Lawmakers back bigger fines for scalping, noise, stalking offenses

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) The Legislative Yuan's Internal Administration Committee on Monday passed a preliminary review of amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act to raise penalties for ticket scalping, noise disturbances and stalking offenses.

Specifically, the maximum fine for unauthorized reselling of transportation or entertainment tickets not intended for personal use will be increased from NT$18,000 to NT$30,000.

The committee also approved a resolution calling on the relevant authorities to propose legal amendments within two months targeting the scalping of medical, hospitality, and other voucher-based products and services.

The resolution stated that while the Social Order Maintenance Act generally handles minor offenses through administrative penalties, scalping can involve "substantial illegal gains and seriously harm the interests of consumers."

The changes were proposed by committee members Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋), Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), and Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) alongside Kao Chin Su-mei (高金素梅), a lawmaker without party affiliation.

Opposing the proposed changes, Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said at the meeting that the scalping of tickets for cultural and sports events was already covered under the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Act and the Sports Industry Development Act.

Liu said the illegal reselling of medical and hospitality vouchers should be regulated under separate laws set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to "avoid excessive administrative discretion by police."

Liu also warned against listing multiple kinds of ticket type in the law, saying it risked overlooking some categories.

Separately, the committee approved a clause raising the maximum fine for creating noise disturbances from NT$6,000 to NT$10,000.

The proposal was introduced by the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) legislative caucus and KMT lawmaker Chiu Jo-hua (邱若華), who suggested that current fines are too low to serve as an effective deterrent.

In another amendment, KMT lawmakers Lu Ming-che (魯明哲) and Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) proposed raising the fine for the offense of "stalking another person without justifiable reasons despite having been dissuaded" from NT$3,000 to NT$30,000.

The 14-member standing committee approved the proposed increases following cross-party discussions.