Household Bills
Viagogo fixes CMA concerns about information presentation
Secondary ticketing site Viagogo has addressed the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) concerns about how it presents important information to its customers.
The CMA has suspended plans for court action against Viagogo after the ticket reseller initially failed to comply with a court order.
In July, the CMA put the ticket resale site on notice that it was moving forward with contempt of court action following repeated warnings that Viagogo had not done enough to comply with a court order the CMA secured against it in November 2018.
The court order required Viagogo to overhaul the way it does business and presented information, in order to make it compliant with UK consumer protection laws. The order required Viagogo to implement the necessary changes, in full, by 17 January 2019.
But when Viagogo had failed to do so by July, the CMA notified the company that it would be asking a court to find it in contempt of court.
Viagogo has now addressed the CMA’s outstanding concerns about how it presents information. However, the CMA has not ruled out future action if the problems recur or if other issues are identified.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: “The Viagogo website UK customers now visit is worlds apart from the one they faced before the CMA took action. Key information needed to make informed decisions before buying a ticket is now much clearer including on where you’ll sit in a venue and whether you might be turned away at the door.
“What is clearly not acceptable is the time it’s taken to get to this stage. Stronger consumer powers are required in the secondary ticketing sector and we will continue to work with the government on the most effective way to achieve this. A key part will be the government’s existing plans to give the CMA stronger consumer protection powers, so that it can rule on whether a company has broken the law and impose fines on those infringing companies.
“We will keep up the pressure on Viagogo to ensure that it continues to comply with UK consumer protection law.”
In October 2019 a further independent review of Viagogo’s compliance with the court order will be completed. If the results of this review, or any other fresh information, suggests the company is not meeting its obligations then the CMA will not hesitate to take further action – through the courts if necessary.
