CMS successfully represented online ticket resale company Viagogo in a dispute with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), with regard to the latter's claim that the company "failed to comply" with some aspects of an enforcement order.

Yesterday, a High Court judge ruled in favour of Viagogo in a commercial dispute it had with the CMA regarding its compliance with obligations set under an order enforced in late November 2018.

The enforcement order stated that the company shall "clearly and prominently" display both the face value of the tickets up for sale and a notice to consumers regarding the company's guarantee, and disclose the deadlines for consumer complaints.

Viagogo is an online resale platform by which third-party sellers that have pre-purchased a ticket to an event at face value can resell it.

Upon completing an investigation into four of the secondary ticket market participants, including Viagogo, last year, the CMA found that Viagogo did not appear to comply satisfactorily with a section of the Enterprise Act 2002.

The watchdog thus launched legal proceedings, seeking an enforcement order on the grounds that the company had failed to "supply information about the face value of tickets being offered for sale on its website", and that the deadlines it imposed on customers with regard to claims under its guarantee seemed unfair.

On November 27, 2018, the parties compromised the proceedings by an order stating, among other things, that Viagogo will "clearly and prominently" display the face value of tickets listed "either in writing or indicated through a suitable label or icon", disclose the deadlines for consumers to submit claims, and display a notice to consumers that the company's guarantee does not affect their consumer rights.

The order was to be fully complied with by January 17, 2019 and thereafter. But the CMA has kept raising concerns over the company's alleged non-compliance with these aspects, and in March announced it was preparing to take legal action for contempt of court.

Despite yesterday's ruling, the CMA has maintained in a statement that Viagogo is not fully compliant with the order, announced it would seek further separate legal proceedings for contempt of court on the grounds that the company does not display the full addresses of businesses, and that it sends out misleading ticket availability messages and warnings regarding tickets with resale restrictions that do not meet the order's requirements.

Yesterday, Google announced in a statement that it had suspended Viagogo as an advertiser on its platforms.

Viagogo was represented by Essex Court Chambers Paul Stanley QC and Birck Court Chambers barrister Malcom Birdling, instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang.

Meanwhile, the CMA was represented by Monckton Chambers barristers Rob Williams and Jack Williams, instructed by the CMA's legal department.