Ticketing service provider Sistic has raised booking fees for the first time since 2008.

The adjustment will affect tickets which start sales after Sept 1, and are priced above $40. The new booking fee for such tickets will be $4, an increase of $1 from the current $3.

Booking fees for the two other categories of tickets will remain unchanged. Tickets which cost between $20.01 and $40 will be subject to a fee of $3, and tickets which cost $20 or less will be subject to a booking fee of $1.

In an e-mail to event organisers which have used Sistic to sell tickets, the company wrote: "While we have taken deliberate steps to keep costs low, the significant increase of manpower and service charges in recent years has brought about challenges for us in maintaining our current fee structure. In addition, the economies of scale that allowed increases in costs to be absorbed in previous years are no longer possible today."

It added that the upcoming fee increase will "pave the way for investment into better, more advanced ticketing technology". The $4 booking fee will "match what has already been introduced to the market by selected venues last year", it said, alluding to Singapore Sports Hub's booking fee of $4 for all tickets.