Senate hearing in Puerto Rico spotlights competing fixes to ticket resale, refunds and transparency

San Juan — Lawmakers on a Senate commerce committee heard hours of testimony Dec. 5 as stakeholders weighed three related bills addressing how tickets for public events are sold, resold and refunded in Puerto Rico.

The measures under consideration are Senate Bill 1196, which would require guaranteed alternatives for consumers to buy tickets in person; Senate Bill 873, which would regulate resale; and House Bill 1794, which would increase transparency and require refunding ticket charges on cancellations. The hearing drew venue managers, producers’ representatives, the Department of Treasury (Hacienda) and the consumer protection agency (DACO).

Lic. Mariela Ballines Fernández, executive director of the Autoridad del Distrito del Centro de Convenciones (ADCC), told senators the authority opposes Senate Bill 873 and has serious reservations about parts of the other measures as drafted. Ballines said ticket-selling platforms and venue expendedoras incur real costs — citing data-security, transaction processing and staff time — and defended a $2-per-ticket facility fee that she said has generated about $1.2 million a year recently for maintenance. “Una vez la expendedora dio el servicio, debe tener derecho a cobrar legítimamente por el trabajo que hizo,” Ballines said.

Ballines and other venue witnesses endorsed returning certain fees when an event is canceled (she said the facility and promoter fees are already being returned in some cases) but opposed provisions that would require expendedoras to absorb all service-related charges without logistics to cover those costs. The ADCC also told senators that about 96% of ticket sales at the Coliseo are electronic, a statistic offered in exchanges about whether large blocks of tickets should be reserved for in-person purchase.

Representatives of producers pushed a different approach. Roberto Sueiro del Valle, president of the Colegio de Productores de Espectáculos Públicos, opposed the absolute prohibition on resale found in one draft and proposed instead to regulate resale’s commercial side. Sueiro urged eliminating exclusive contracts between venues and a single seller and floated a “derecho de persecución” (a right to claim a share of resale gains) so that a portion of the increased resale price would be divided among the seller, the promoter and the artist. “Si el promotor decide que el evento se puede revender, todo lo que ocurra con posterioridad podría repartirse entre promotor, artista y expendedora,” Sueiro said.

Hacienda officials urged careful drafting to harmonize any new duties with tax and licensing rules already administered by the Treasury. Subsecretary Lic. José Chávez and other treasury officials noted that changes to price, date or venue require a refrendo ante Hacienda and that the agency’s records show the ticketing sector produces an estimated $15–20 million a year in sales-and-use tax (IVU). Hacienda also flagged enforcement challenges when platforms lack a local presence and recommended that any licensing of reselling platforms be feasible to monitor.

DACO’s representative, Saúl Hernández Medina, told the committee the agency supports stronger disclosure to protect consumers but questioned a blanket prohibition on resale on constitutional grounds; DACO favored flexible, targeted rules and said it would provide complaint records if the committee requests them.

Across the hearing, lawmakers pressed witnesses for concrete fixes. Several senators asked for written amendments and supporting data within five days; ADCC and other witnesses agreed to submit requested figures on revenues and contracts. Senators also explored potential mitigations, including insurance or bonding to guarantee refunds without forcing expendedoras to operate at a loss.

What’s next: No votes were taken; the hearing closed after witnesses agreed to provide documents and suggested amendments within the committee’s five-day deadline. Lawmakers signaled they will weigh proposed language to balance transparency and consumer remedies with operational and fiscal realities for promoters and ticketing platforms.

Sources and attributions: testimony and exchanges submitted at the Dec. 5 Senate hearing (witnesses include Lic. Mariela Ballines Fernández, Roberto Sueiro del Valle, representatives of Hacienda and DACO).