Proposed EU rules would force transparency on Ticketmaster over prices

New European Union regulations to be tabled on Wednesday would require ticket websites to disclose how many are left available and at what price.The move comes after controversy surrounding dynamic pricing systems in place for high-demand concerts in recent years.The proposed law, the Digital Fairness Act, aims to tighten up regulations covering marketing by social media influencers, increase transparency around “loot boxes” in video games commonly targeted at children and require subscription services to inform customers before automatically charging them after a free trial ends. Social media influencers and online marketers would be prohibited from providing false or misleading claims about the sustainability or environmental credentials of products they’re selling, as part of the changes.READ MOREThe new regulations have been drawn up by European commissioner for justice and consumer protection Michael McGrath. The act is set to be proposed on Wednesday by the European Commission, the union’s executive body in Brussels that drafts laws and rules.The regulations would introduce greater transparency around dynamic pricing practices employed by Ticketmaster and other ticket-selling websites, where prices can increase – sometimes dramatically – depending on demand. A draft of the proposed new rules, seen by The Irish Times, states Ticketmaster and other traders would need to inform people in a virtual queue about the number of tickets still available at standard advertised prices.“The real-time evolution of the price and the maximum price must be displayed when consumers are waiting in a virtual queue for their chance to buy,” a draft of the new proposal states. “In a dynamic pricing context, traders must disclose how many items are available to consumers at the advertised price.”McGrath’s officials had weighed up how far to go in regulating dynamic ticket pricing for concerts, sports games or other live events. Ultimately, a decision was taken that the Digital Fairness Act would be limited to requiring more information about current prices and available tickets from Ticketmaster and similar seller websites. Loot boxes, where a player can pay money for a chance to win rewards or extra prizes in a video game, would have to tell people about their “probabilities of winning”, the draft of the proposal states. [ EU governments scramble to help fill €70bn gap in Ukraine fundingOpens in new window ]The EU consumer protection reforms suggest making companies notify customers when they are about to be charged a subscription fee at the end of a free trial, or before a contract is due to automatically renew. Customers would have to confirm they accept a contract following a trial. Businesses would also have to make it easy to cancel online subscriptions, according to a draft of the Digital Fairness Act. The proposal by McGrath is only the beginning of the European legislative process. The proposed changes must be sent to MEPs in the European Parliament and representatives of national governments in the Council of the EU for both institutions to give approval and make amendments. The proposed act seeks to crack down on “dark patterns” used to deceptively sell products online, which the draft text said might include creating an impression that a product or item was in scarce supply. The regulation seeks to give people the option to turn off “addictive” features on shopping websites, such as infinite scroll or video autoplay. The Digital Fairness Act will likely be one of the main pieces of legislation McGrath will put forward during his five-year term as Ireland’s EU commissioner in Brussels, which began at the end of 2024.