By Martin Coulter
LONDON (Reuters) – European Union lawmakers are backing calls for new rules on the use of “dynamic pricing” when selling goods online after fans of Oasis complained about hugely inflated ticket prices for a series of sold-out concerts by the British band.
Last month, thousands of fans waited hours in virtual queues for tickets to Oasis’ reunion concerts in the UK and Ireland next summer, only to find prices had skyrocketed at the checkout.
The resulting backlash has sparked investigations into Ticketmaster – the concerts’ official ticketing partner – by British, Irish and European regulators.
Now eight of Ireland’s 14 MEPs have backed calls for changes to the Digital Services Act (DSA), a comprehensive set of technology regulations introduced earlier this year, to avoid similar situations in the future.
“If we need further regulation to ensure that dynamic pricing does not become the norm, then I think it will be necessary,” said Dublin MEP Regina Doherty, who had earlier called on Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate the issue.
Companies that violate anti-money laundering laws face fines of up to 6% of their global turnover. Repeat offenders could be banned from operating in Europe altogether.
The EU has been conducting a “comprehensive review” of the adequacy of its current consumer protection laws over the past two years, with rules on ticket sales among those under review. The final report is due to be published later this year.
Ciaran Mullolly, an MEP for the Midlands-North West Ireland constituency, told Reuters he would support adding new measures to the Social Democrats Act.
“There is no word to describe this other than ‘scam’. It poses a real challenge to the Digital Services Act. The Commission will have to step in – and if it does not, it will make its legislation irrelevant,” he said.
Six other MEPs from Ireland – Barry Cowen, Billy Kelleher, Cynthia Ni Murchu, Kathleen Funchion, Luke Ming-Flanagan and Lynne Boylan – told Reuters they would support introducing new rules to deal with the issue.
“We need to discuss whether we should amend the Dynamic Services Act to deal with dynamic pricing or not. This issue is not new. Now is the time to discuss it and take action,” Ni Murchi said.
An Oasis representative declined to comment, and Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, when the UK Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation, a Ticketmaster spokesman said the company was “committed to cooperating,” and Oasis issued a statement saying that decisions on ticket sales and pricing were the responsibility of organizers and management.