CTS’s oeticket defeated in Austria over ticket fees

A court of first instance has found against CTS Eventim Austria, ruling that the practice of charging delivery fees on tickets – including those printed at home – is illegal.

The case, brought by the Consumer Information Association (VKI), concerns tickets sold via CTS’s oeticket website, which charges €2.50 for ‘print @ home’ and mobile tickets and €1.90 for those picked up from branches of Libro or oeticket’s own box offices.

According to to the Handelsgericht (commercial court) of Vienna, such charges are “unusual and disadvantageous” for consumers and inadmissible under Austrian law.

CTS Eventim will likely appeal against the verdict, which is not yet final, as it has in a similar case making its way through the courts in Germany.

OLG upholds ban on self-printed ticket fees

If and when the court’s decision becomes legally binding, affected consumers are expected to have up to 30 years to apply retroactively for refunds.

“Charing customers a fee to print their own tickets is very surprising,” says VKI lawyer Joachim Kogelmann, who adds that the judgment should lead to “more price clarity when buying a ticket”.

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