The government has been defeated in the House of Lords as peers back a secondary ticketing amendment to the Digital Economy Bill.
Yesterday (29 March), peers voted 180 to 157 in favour of requiring resellers to provide the ticket reference and booking number to consumers, plus specific conditions relating to resale.
This is on top of existing obligations to provide original face value and seat and row numbers.
In the hearing, Lord Colin Moynihan said: ‘It is a simple additional consumer protection measure which does not cost anything. It would look after consumers—in this context, particularly fans of sport and fans of music—which is what we should be all about. I beg to move the amendment and I should like to test the will of the House on it.’
The FanFair Alliance, which spearheads a campaign against industrial-scale ticket touting, responded to the ruling: ‘Despite concerted media and political scrutiny, the resale of tickets on platforms like Viagogo, Get Me In!, Seatwave and StubHub remains wholly lacking in transparency.
‘This is the only online marketplace where buyers are given no identity about sellers - a peculiarity which is massively helpful to touts whose activities are anonymised, but not so much to consumers. It's is a recipe for bad practice at best, and outright fraud at worst.
‘That's why this small amendment to the Consumer Rights Act is so important, as it could help provide more certainty that a ticket actually exists in the first place, as well as crucial details about terms and conditions of resale.
‘FanFair Alliance warmly welcomes the Lords' decision last night, and alongside the other recent commitments we look forward to further discussions with Government about how ticket resale can be made more transparent, honest and consumer-friendly.’
The Digital Economy Bill will receive its third reading on 5 April in the Lords.
Yesterday (29 March), peers voted 180 to 157 in favour of requiring resellers to provide the ticket reference and booking number to consumers, plus specific conditions relating to resale.
This is on top of existing obligations to provide original face value and seat and row numbers.
In the hearing, Lord Colin Moynihan said: ‘It is a simple additional consumer protection measure which does not cost anything. It would look after consumers—in this context, particularly fans of sport and fans of music—which is what we should be all about. I beg to move the amendment and I should like to test the will of the House on it.’
The FanFair Alliance, which spearheads a campaign against industrial-scale ticket touting, responded to the ruling: ‘Despite concerted media and political scrutiny, the resale of tickets on platforms like Viagogo, Get Me In!, Seatwave and StubHub remains wholly lacking in transparency.
‘This is the only online marketplace where buyers are given no identity about sellers - a peculiarity which is massively helpful to touts whose activities are anonymised, but not so much to consumers. It's is a recipe for bad practice at best, and outright fraud at worst.
‘That's why this small amendment to the Consumer Rights Act is so important, as it could help provide more certainty that a ticket actually exists in the first place, as well as crucial details about terms and conditions of resale.
‘FanFair Alliance warmly welcomes the Lords' decision last night, and alongside the other recent commitments we look forward to further discussions with Government about how ticket resale can be made more transparent, honest and consumer-friendly.’
The Digital Economy Bill will receive its third reading on 5 April in the Lords.
