Britain's competition watchdog launches legal action against Viagogo
(Reuters) - Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday it had launched legal action against online ticket reseller Viagogo after the firm failed to offer to make changes following a CMA investigation into the secondary ticketing sector.
Stadium seats in a file photo. Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley Livepic
The CMA said it was seeking a court order to ensure that the firm “does not repeat historic failures to make its customers aware of the face value of tickets on sale through its site”.
It also said it was also seeking an interim enforcement order from the court that could put a stop to some of Viagogo’s practices pending a full trial.
The CMA began enforcement action against four ticketing websites in November and three of those sites - StubHub, GETMEIN! and Seatwave offered formal commitments in April to overhaul their practices, it said on Friday.
"Viagogo has not offered to make the changes the CMA considers necessary to bring it in line with the law. Legal proceedings have therefore been brought in the High Court," the watchdog said in a statement. bit.ly/2N6UyvY
The Advertising Standards Authority referred Viagogo to National Trading Standards in May for "its failure to make changes to misleading pricing information on its website". bit.ly/2wzWBOQ bit.ly/2MIcb5S
In June, soccer’s ruling body FIFA filed a criminal complaint against Viagogo saying it wanted to prevent unauthorised ticket reselling at the World Cup in Russia.
Viagogo was not available for immediate comment.
Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Sangameswaran S; editing by Jason Neely
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