President Joe Biden is finally tacking the real issues: making “junk fees” for concert tickets illegal.
Biden has announced his administration is examining fees imposed on consumers in various sectors, including entertainment and travel, that would save customers more than $1 billion.
“These are junk fees,” Biden said. “They’re unfair, and they hit marginalized Americans the hardest, especially low-income folks and people of color. They benefit big corporations, not consumers, not working families.”
Concert tickets in particular have grown wildly expensive. Inflation is part of the blame, while supply and demand is another. But another major factor is the “junk fees” that Biden’s administration is working to shut down.
So far, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a guidance that effectively bans surprise overdraft fees when customers have had insufficient funds, and also depositor fees for checks that bounce. The Federal Trade Commission has also begun a rule-making process to reduce junk fees across event ticketing, hotels and funeral homes.
The initiative couldn’t have come at a better time. With the pandemic slowly coming to a close, artists are announcing new tours almost daily. Who knows, maybe Biden’s just trying to score a reasonably priced ticket to an upcoming Beyonce or Taylor Swift show.
