Competition watchdog warns Viagogo of new legal action over non-compliance with court order
The competition watchdog is preparing to take another round of legal action against ticket reseller Viagogo after warning the site it is still not compliant with a court order secured to protect consumers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had warned Viagogo that it was still not complying with a court order requiring that it improve information displayed about the tickets listed on the site.
A CMA spokeswoman said: “Although some improvements have been made since we first demanded action to address areas of non-compliance, further checks have shown there are still issues of concern.
viagogo update ➡️ The CMA has today warned viagogo it is still not compliant with the court order we secured, requiring improved information be displayed about the tickets listed for resale on its site. pic.twitter.com/vbeIb6lhg2
— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) March 5, 2019
“For a company not to comply with a court order is clearly very serious. We are therefore now preparing to take legal action to ask a court to find Viagogo in contempt.”
The watchdog formally raised “serious concerns” with Viagogo in January about its compliance with the order and said it must address them or face a return to court.
Viagogo claimed it had met the January 18 deadline to comply with the High Court order requiring it to make a number of changes to the way it collects and presents information about tickets for sale on its site, in particular about seat numbers, resale restrictions and face value as well as to the way it uses messages about the availability and popularity of tickets.
The CMA’s concerns followed its own monitoring of the site since the deadline and were in addition to an independent review of compliance with the court order.
In November, the CMA told the Switzerland-based company it must overhaul the way it does business to protect consumers under a High Court order.
Under the order, Viagogo must also publish the names and addresses of touts – those selling more than 100 tickets a year via the site.
The CMA began enforcement action against four secondary ticketing websites last November, with three of them – Stub Hub, GetMeIn! and Seatwave – committing to change their business practices.
