A law that prohibits ticket scalping for concerts and sports events came into force Friday ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The legislation, which was approved by the Diet last December, prohibits the resale of tickets at prices higher than that at which they were originally sold and taking possession of tickets for the purpose of scalping. The ban includes online reselling.

Violators will face a possible jail term of up to one year or fine of up to ¥1 million, or both.

Subject to the ban are tickets that designate seats or the name of spectators in advance, as well as QR codes and IC cards that serve as electronic tickets. The law also requires event organizers to make efforts to identify ticket holders.

Tickets provided as part of an invitation and those distributed for free are not subject to the new law, while individuals who became unable to attend an event they paid for will be able to use the organizer’s official website to resell their tickets.

Although ticket scalping on the streets near event venues had already been prohibited under local ordinances, the increase in the online resale of popular tickets since around 2001 has posed a problem.

The results of the Olympics lottery tickets will be announced Thursday. Assigned tickets must be purchased by July 2.