The UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is preparing legal action against secondary ticketing seller Viagogo and will seek a contempt of court ruling.
The impending legal action has been announced by the CMA today (March 5), warning Viagogo that “it is still not compliant” with the court order secured at the end of 2018 that required the secondary ticketing platform to implement major changes to the way it does business.
The High Court judgement against Viagogo was obtained by the CMA following legal action against the company over concerns that it was breaking consumer protection law.
At the time, Viagogo said that the two parties had “reached a ground-breaking settlement, bringing an end to the legal dispute”.
In January the CMA said that it could pursue “rapid action through the courts” against Viagogo if it fails to implement reforms and today it appears to have meant it, announcing that is “now preparing to take legal action to ask a court to find Viagogo in contempt”.
“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.”
CMA
“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,” said the CMA in a statement.
“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.
“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.”
“FanFair Alliance welcomes today’s long-awaited announcement from the CMA.”
Adam Webb, FanFair Alliance
Adam Webb, Campaign Manager, FanFair Alliance said: “FanFair Alliance welcomes today’s long-awaited announcement from the CMA.
“We also share concerns about Viagogo’s compliancy with its court order, and that the site continues to facilitate large-scale breaches of consumer law. All UK music fans should avoid this site.”Music Business Worldwide
