Maranhão Prosecutor Sues Carnival Box‑Seat Organizers Over Illegal Ticket Pricing

On July 15, the Maranhão Public Prosecutor's Office filed a civil public action in São Luís against three event production companies—Acontece Produções e Eventos Ltda., MSM Entretenimento Ltda., AMZ Company Produções Eventos e Locações Ltda.—and two ticket‑selling platforms, Santos Gestão de Ingressos Ltda. (Brasil Ticket) and LR FUT Ltda.

The complaint alleges that the companies systematically sold half‑price (meia‑entrada) tickets for the 2025 carnival box seats at prices higher than half of the full‑price tickets, violating consumer‑information and pricing rules. For example, half‑price tickets for the “Camarote Ilha” were sold for R$ 220 while a full‑price ticket for the second lot was R$ 300, and a policy of independent lot progression exhausted cheaper half‑price quotas early.

Analysis of sales data shows that in the “Camarote Stage” only 2.6 % of tickets sold were regular full‑price, while 46.8 % were “Stage Solidário” tickets, which generated 58.6 % of total revenue. The average solidário price was R$ 270.15, making the half‑price tickets effectively 58.7 % of that amount, exceeding the legal 50 % cap.

The lawsuit seeks injunctions to stop the sale of half‑price tickets above the legal limit, requires transparent disclosure of total ticket numbers, half‑price quotas and lot‑transition criteria, and asks for collective damages of R$ 500 000 to be paid to the State Fund for Diffuse Rights. “As irregularidades constatadas não decorreram de evento isolado ou de falha pontual, mas da adoção consciente de política comercial estruturada pelas requeridas,” said prosecutor Alineide Martins.