Controversial online ticket resale platform Viagogo has been found guilty of misleading consumers by the Australian Federal Court.
Following a slew of public outcry and protests from artists in recent years, the Court has found Viagogo in breach of Australian Consumer Law, stating it made “false or misleading representations and engaged in conduct liable to mislead the public when reselling entertainment, music and live sport event tickets”.
The website will often say tickets to certain events are nearly all gone, urging buyers to act quickly before they miss out when in reality, they are only referring to tickets on Viagogo and not those available elsewhere, including primary ticket sites.
“Viagogo’s claims misled consumers into buying tickets by including claims like ‘less than 1 per cent tickets remaining’ to create a false sense of urgency,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
Viagogo will also be penalised for using the word ‘official’ in its online advertisements, and not being transparent with booking fees.
“Viagogo was charging extraordinarily high booking fees and many consumers were caught out,” Sims said.
“Today’s Federal Court decision is a reminder to businesses that consumers must be clearly told that there are additional fees associated with a displayed price.”
Penalties and orders against Viagogo are yet to be determined.
The news comes as anti-scalping laws are introduced across Europe to ban the use of bots on the primary ticket market.
A vote in the European Parliament earlier this week saw in favour of outlawing automated software that allows scalpers to buy bulk tickets, often exceeding the buying limits for one person, which they then resell for inflated prices.
The new laws will also require resellers to declare if they are a professional seller, while enforcement bodies are given more power when it comes to prosecuting offenders.
"Everyone apart from [scalpers] lose out from bot bulk buying of tickets, real fans either are unable to see their favourite team or artist or forced to pay many times the face value price, whilst event organisers are seeing their purchasing limits flagrantly violated,” Daniel Dalton MEP, member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group said.
“So this first ever ban at a European level is an important first step, with the possibility to go further in future depending on how the ban works in practice."
European Music Managers Alliance’s Per Kviman and Virpi Imonnen said that, while “this is a positive step”, “the banning of bots is one small piece of the jigsaw.”
“Tackling this issue requires a more comprehensive approach, and we hope there is potential to build upon this move,” they said.
Despite South Australia and New South Wales both banning bots in recent years, the war on scalping in Australia rages on, with resellers listing tickets to Metallica's Australian tour on Viagogo for over $1,000 last month.
Update: Viagogo's Head of Business Development Cris Miller has since issued a statement about the ruling, read it below.
“We are disappointed by the ruling. It does not reflect our current ticketing platform and the many changes we have made. We strongly believe our website is compliant and we will continue to work closely and constructively with the ACCC.
“Our first priority continues to be to provide people with a safe and secure platform to buy or sell sport, music and entertainment tickets, many of which would otherwise not have been available to them due to the limited number that event organisers release to the box office.
“Without services like viagogo, people would be forced to return to buying and selling tickets outside venues, or to use informal social media platforms where no customer protection exists. We don’t believe anyone should have to take that risk.”
“We are disappointed that the Chair of the Commission does not support the greater competition that viagogo and other ticket resellers bring to the market which provides greater choice for Australian consumers."
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