Viagogo warned of regulator's 'serious concerns'

Viagogo could face another trip to court if it fails to address "serious concerns" about its website's failure to adhere to a court order intended to protect consumers, according to regulators.

The ticket resale website had agreed to overhaul its business practices following a high court order in November but the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concerns that it failed to make the necessary changes by the Thursday deadline.

A CMA spokeswoman said: "Having conducted urgent checks, the CMA has serious concerns that Viagogo have not complied with important aspects of the court order we secured against them. We have told Viagogo we expect them to make the necessary changes without delay. If they do not, we will go back to court to force them to do so. Severe penalties are available if they are found to be in contempt of court."

The regulator is concerned customers could be turned away from events due to resale restrictions and that important information, such as seat numbers, is not always collected from sellers by Viagogo, meaning that potential purchasers of tickets are not aware of all necessary information.

But earlier in the day, the Swiss company released a statement of twitter claiming to have met the deadline and now be fully compliant, stating that "all tickets on Viagogo are valid and it is perfectly legal to resell a ticket or give it to someone else if you want to".

Alongside the CMA's monitoring of the website, Viagogo will also face pressure from an independent review of its compliance with the court order, which also states that it must publish the names and addresses of users who sell more than 100 tickets per year.