Tickets for the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States are the hottest in town -- but don`t go looking for them on eBay.

Under pressure from members of the US Congress, the online auction site has banned the reselling of tickets for the January 20 swearing-in event.

StubHub, another popular ticket site, also prohibited the resale of inauguration tickets, a move welcomed by California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the congressional committee organizing the inaugural ceremonies.

`I want to thank eBay/StubHub for not allowing the sale of inaugural swearing-in ceremony tickets on any of its websites,` Feinstein said in a statement posted on her Senate website on Thursday.

`They have led the way and I hope other Internet companies will follow.`

Tickets for the inaugural ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol are provided to the public for free by members of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

According to The Washington Post, some 240,000 tickets are to be handed out for the inauguration at which Obama will take the oath as the first African-American US president.