An “urgent review” of dynamic pricing has been launched to ensure consumers are being treated fairly, the competition regulator has announced amid the backlash over ticket prices for the Oasis reunion tour.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) spoke up after a stream of complaints relating to the cost of tickets for the eagerly anticipated Oasis shows, which more than doubled while on sale.
Tickets worth £148 were being sold for £355 on Ticketmaster within hours of release on Saturday, due to the dynamic pricing systems which can raise costs in the event of high demand and limited supply.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy later announced a government review of so-called surge pricing as the tickets sold out and fans licked their wounds.
A CMA spokesperson said on Tuesday: “The CMA is urgently reviewing recent developments in the ticketing market, including the way dynamic pricing is being used in the primary market.
“Consumer protection law requires businesses to be fair and transparent in their dealings with consumers, and businesses must give clear and accurate information about the price people have to pay.”
“Failure to do so may breach the law,” the statement concluded.
The regulator had previously added its support to a shake-up of price controls.
“The CMA wants fans to get a fair deal when they buy tickets,” it explained.
“We have already acted against major resale websites on the secondary market to ensure consumer law is being followed. But we think more protections are needed for consumers here and made recommendations to the previous government in 2021 about the changes that are needed.
“It is positive that the government now wants to address this. We look forward to working with them to get the best outcomes for fans and fair-playing businesses.”
Ticketmaster has said it does not set prices and its website says this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.
Ms Nandy had said: “After the incredible news of Oasis’s return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live.
“This government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of music.
“So we will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it, in our forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.
“Working with artists, industry, and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales, and ensures tickets at fair prices.”
