The Austrian Supreme Court announced that it would rule against secondary ticket seller Viagogo, informing the site that it must better inform its buyers about the identity of its ticket sellers.
The court ordered that Viagogo, as well as similar websites affecting Austria, to disclose the identity of ticket sellers, including names and addresses, as well as whether the tickets are personalized before purchase. Customers will be protected in the country from losses by misleading information or the omission of essential information from sellers. Platforms will also be held accountable if they don’t ensure sellers’ compliance with the registration and disclosure of their identities.
The sports and leisure companies of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce brought the case against Viagogo through the competition protection association WSV.
Ahead of the ruling, tickets on secondary platforms in Austria were sold anonymously. This led to misinformation regarding personalized tickets, leading ticketholders to be denied access to events. The UACC started the case due to inflated prices for events on Viagogo like cabaret’s Monika Gruber and Viktor Gernot.
Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority moved into an active phase of its investigation into the Viagogo-StubHub merger. The investigation kicked-off last year, looking at whether the deal will lead to “a substantial lessening of competition” in ticket selling. A Viagogo spokesperson said that they “welcome start of the phase 1 review by the CMA,” noting that “we will continue to work closely with them and demonstrate the benefits of the merger for consumers.”
