Online ticket marketplace Viagogo commits to improving terms and consumer information after dialogue with Commission and consumer authorities

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Following a dialogue with the European Commission and the national consumer authorities of Member States, Viagogo, online marketplace for the second-hand sale of event tickets, has committed to better inform consumers on the conditions under which tickets are resold and to stop pressuring consumers with excessive countdown messages in its role as trader. The Commission and national consumer authorities had received multiple complaints concerning Viagogo’s website, such as the lack of clear information on taxes and fees that must be paid by consumers, which Viagogo now committed to address.    

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, coordinated by the Commission, started a dialogue with Viagogo in April 2021. After multiple exchanges, Viagogo now agreed to implement a series of changes to the versions of its website that are directed to EU/EEA consumers by the end of August 2024 in its capacity as trader, including:

• Further clarifying how Viagogo ranks tickets in search results.
• Substantially reducing the number of countdown messages that appear on its website.
• Informing consumers, already on the ticket selection page, whether the seller of the ticket is a trader or another consumer. This information is crucial as consumers cannot invoke EU consumer protection rules vis-à-vis sellers that are not traders.  
• Where available, allowing consumers to choose an exact seat number rather than only  selecting in which section of the venue they want to sit.
• Including the delivery fees in the displayed prices where there is only one delivery option available for a ticket. Where there are multiple delivery options available for a ticket, Viagogo will inform consumers more clearly that delivery fees are not included in the displayed prices.

Moreover, Viagogo has agreed to implement by the end of August a number of changes and clarifications to several clauses in its terms & conditions, which will ensure that, among others:

• consumers can bring legal actions against Viagogo in their own Member State of residence and that they will enjoy the protection of their national consumer law.
• consumers have more time to apply for a refund under the Viagogo ‘guarantee’ scheme in case they experience problems with their tickets.
• Viagogo cannot unilaterally change its terms & conditions without informing consumers in advance and giving them a reasonable notice to cancel their account free of charge.
• when consumers are offered a substituted seat location under the Viagogo ‘guarantee’ scheme, the new seat location will be in the same or a better approximate location as the one in the substituted ticket.

However, Viagogo refused to commit to the following changes the CPC Network had requested:

• Informing consumers about the amount of possible delivery fees at the beginning of the purchase procedure where there are multiple delivery options available for a ticket.
• Making clearer to consumers that, besides the remedies offered by Viagogo as an intermediary, they may have (additional) rights vis-à-vis the actual ticket seller and/or the event organizer when their event is cancelled or postponed.

The CPC Network urged Viagogo to address these issues as well and may resort to enforcement actions as necessary.

Next steps

The CPC Network will now actively monitor how Viagogo implements its commitments. If Viagogo does not implement the commitments properly within the agreed timeframe or if it fails to address the remaining concerns raised by the CPC Network, national consumer authorities may decide to take measures to enforce compliance, including sanctions.

In some Member States, there are ongoing legal proceedings against Viagogo based on EU consumer law and/or national laws regulating the (re)sale of event tickets. The closure of the dialogue between the CPC Network and Viagogo does not affect those proceedings.

Since February 2024, Viagogo has to comply with the due diligence obligations of the DSA in its role as intermediary service, including those specific for online market places when it act as such. The Digital Service Coordinator of the Member State of establishment of Viagogo is responsible for supervising and enforcing compliance with the DSA by Viagogo in line with the DSA enforcement framework.

Background

The requirements of EU consumer protection law addressed in this CPC dialogue can be found in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD). Under the UCPD, businesses must provide transparent and truthful information to consumers and must refrain from misleading consumers to influence their choices. The CRD further specifies the information that businesses must provide to consumers when making online purchases. The UCTD prohibits businesses from applying standard terms & conditions that are significantly imbalanced to the detriment of the consumer.

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network is a network of national authorities of EU/EEA Member Sates responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. To tackle cross-border issues, their actions are coordinated at EU level. The European Commission facilitates and, in some cases coordinates such joint actions. CPC coordinated actions have a well-defined scope.

On 17 February 2024, the Digital Services Act (DSA) entered into application. The DSA harmonises the obligations for all online platforms in the EU to reinforce the safety and trustworthiness of the online space. Online platforms’ obligations under the DSA are publicly enforced under the distinct and separate enforcement framework established under that regulation. The enforcement is shared between the European Commission, with jurisdiction over designated platforms with more that 45 million monthly active recipient in the EU, and national Digital Service Coordinators. Digital Service Coordinators have, among other, the power to request access to data, order inspections and impose fines on providers of intermediary services in their territory in the event of an infringement.