In a new report, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has warned consumers to avoid the secondary ticketing platform Viagogo until it ‘fully complies with consumer law.’
Back in November 2018, the company received a court order demanding that they provide full information about tickets listed on their website, including listing seat numbers. Since then, they have refused to give evidence before the DCMS committee, and are currently facing further legal action from the Competition and Markets Authority.
The report’s key findings include:
- Ticket resale for profit drains money out of the music industry – and loses tax revenue for the government
- Enforcement of secondary ticketing legislation has seen some successes: StubHub, for example, is now in compliance with CMA and ASA rulings. However, Viagogo is still not compliant
- The issue of bot attacks on ticketing sites is rife: Ticketmaster has blocked 20 billion bot attacks across its global platforms in 2017, but current regulations may not address the actual means by which touts harvest tickets. Touts also use multiple computers which are much harder to detect
- It is time for companies such as Google to take more responsibility in enforcing AdWords regulations, so that secondary sites are not able to breach these policies when selling fraudulent tickets. The report urges the government to define the responsibilities of media companies such as Google, and enforce sanctions
Michael Dugher, CEO of UK Music, commented:
“They have really listened to the live music industry, which contributes around £1bn a year to the UK economy, and their report is a real wake-up call for everyone who wants to safeguard live music.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager at FanFair Alliance, commented:
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“If a restaurant poses a risk to public health, we expect inspectors to close it immediately on grounds of consumer protection.
“Unfortunately, such powers of enforcement are seemingly absent when it comes to online ticket touting. So despite the huge consumer harm caused by Viagogo’s practices, and despite the best efforts of the Competition & Markets Authority and other regulators, the site has continued to operate in clear disregard of the law.
“This needs to change. Viagogo is already facing legal proceedings for contempt of court. While that case is pending, there is surely a compelling argument for the website to be temporarily blocked and for platforms like Google to cut off its advertising.”
Click here to read the report in full.