CTS Eventim said it will appeal after it was told ‘print @ home’ and other charges are illegal in Austria in its latest setback in European courts.
According to the verdict of the Handelsgericht (HG) Vienna the practices of Ö-Ticket, which were referred to the civil court by the Association for Consumer Information (VKI), are not justified.
The verdict is not yet legally binding according to the FutureZone tech news website, but comes just weeks after The Ticketing Business reported a similar ruling in Germany.
The complaint in Austria, which was made with the backing of the Ministry of Social Affairs, relates to Ö-Ticket charging customers €2.50 (£2.10/$2.80) to print tickets at home or to receive a mobile code. Those that pick up the ticket in a Libro branch are charged €1.90, with a further deposit on top of that.
The court said the charges are “unusual and disadvantageous”.
Christoph Klingler, managing director of CTS Eventim Austria, told FutureZone that the ‘print @ home’ name is perhaps misleading as the charges relate to the transaction and staff costs rather than the physical production of tickets. He added that the company will appeal the decision.
He said: “We are going through the next authorities, because the verdict is, in our opinion, wrong in terms of content”.
According to Klingler, changes in the fee model are not currently being considered. He said: “We are waiting for the next instance, because we hope that this will be addressed to our business model.”
Share this