Secondary ticketing websites agree to transparency code
Following industry-wide criticism of the UK’s secondary ticketing legislation, four online ticket resellers have agreed to a transparency code.
Stubhub, viagogo, Seatwave and Get Me In (the latter two operate under Ticketmaster) have said they would make the changes demanded by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Under the amended Consumer Rights Bill, passed by the House of Lords late last month and introduced by CMA today, second hand ticket resellers must display: The original cost of any ticket, whether there are entry restrictions and restricted views, whether multiple bookings refer to seats that are next to each other, a contact email address and whether additional charges are involved.
viagogo, which operates in Australia and recently entered a partnership with Soundwave Festival, has told TMN it’s “business as usual” for the Switzerland-based company and that the update to legislation doesn’t restrict consumer rights.
“It’s important to note the UK’s government’s measures are not designed to restrict people’s right to resell their own property,” viagogo’s statement to TMN read. “Ticket resale remains legal and people can still resell tickets at a profit if they wish. This is simply about helping people to make more informed choices and cracking down on fraud, which we support.
“The UK government is seeking to make the process of buying and selling tickets more transparent and safer for consumers, and that’s something we wholeheartedly support. We are working together to provide more ticket information on our website, while fraud prevention is already at the heart of our business," viagogo told TMN."Millions of dollars have been lost to people using bogus websites and street sellers, both in the UK and around the world, but not a single cent has been lost to viagogo customers because of our guarantee.”
The CMA has said prosecutions and fines could be brought against resellers if the rules aren’t followed.
CMA Senior director Nisha Arora said in a statement: “A well-functioning market benefits fans by helping them get tickets for events they want to see and when they can no longer make use of their tickets.
“We want this rapidly evolving sector to continue to improve across the board so that fans can buy with more confidence.”