The UK competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has signaled that it believes Ticketmaster broke consumer protection legislation in selling tickets to Oasis’s reunion tour last year. The CMA probe has lifted the lid on how ticketing giant Ticketmaster allegedly deceived fans who were charged vastly more money than anticipated for tickets with a £150 face value.

Over 900,000 tickets were sold for Oasis’s highly anticipated comeback shows, but many fans ended up paying significantly more than the initial ticket price. Some said they paid as much as £350 for tickets that cost £150. The CMA’s report suggests that Ticketmaster’s pricing was misleading, particularly regarding how tickets were advertised.

One of the key issues being probed is how Ticketmaster branded some seats as “platinum” and sold them at nearly 2.5 times the cost of normal tickets. The CMA noted that the premium tickets frequently carried no extra advantages and were frequently in the same part of the venue as ordinary tickets. This transparency created an illusion for many customers that they were purchasing improved-quality seats, when they were not.

In addition, fans were not properly informed that there were two distinct categories of standing tickets available at different prices. Several customers spent hours in long online queues, only to find out that they would be charged significantly more than they expected.

Hayley Fletcher, CMA’s interim senior director of consumer protection, said: “Fans reported problems when buying Oasis tickets from Ticketmaster, and we decided those concerns were worth investigating. We’re concerned that Oasis fans didn’t get the information they needed or may have been misled into purchasing tickets they believed were better than they were.”

Consumer association Which? has accused both Oasis and Ticketmaster of the pricing strategy, demanding a refund to customers who paid over the face value of the ticket. They think that the application of “dynamic pricing,” a system that varies prices according to demand, is responsible for this. Nevertheless, the CMA clarified that it could not find any proof that Ticketmaster applied real-time algorithmic pricing for the Oasis tickets.

Instead, Ticketmaster seemed to have first sold standing tickets at a lower price and then once those had sold out, opened up more tickets at a significantly higher price. Though not a traditional dynamic pricing model, the CMA still was discomfited that fans remained unaware of how ticket pricing was being set. Given that many customers faced long waits in online queues, they were often unaware of the true cost of tickets until it was too late.

Since the inquiry started, Ticketmaster has also made some changes to its ticket sale process. But the CMA is concerned that those moves have not sufficiently addressed its concerns over the ticketing system. The watchdog is now discussing with Ticketmaster what needs to be done to resolve the matter.

Fletcher added, “We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to resolve these issues so, in the future, fans can make informed choices when purchasing tickets. All ticketing sites must ensure they are being compliant with the law and dealing fairly with their customers. When companies do get things right, customers benefit – and that is the best result for everyone.”

In a further development, the CMA also expressed support for putting in place a cap on secondary ticket prices, which would be much less likely to see tickets resold at overcharged rates. Although secondary ticket resale is not illegal, this action would be likely to discourage touts from ticket resale, who tend to take advantage of fans by selling tickets at much higher prices. A number of touts have been given legal punishment, including imprisonment, for their fraudulent activities in ticket resale.

With the ticketing industry under increasing pressure to be more open and equitable, everyone will be watching Ticketmaster’s reaction to the criticism. Fans, artists, and regulators can’t wait to see what action will be taken to make the system fairer for buying tickets to big events.