The Advertising Standards Authority has taken action against four large secondary ticketing sites over the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites.

After sector-wide investigations, the ASA found that StubHub UK, Viagogo, Seatwave and GetMeIn! were not clear with consumers about additional ticket fees and charges added at the end of the booking process.

The ASA has instructed these organisations to improve transparency over pricing, making clear the total ticket cost from the outset of the customer’s engagement with the site, including the booking fee (inclusive of VAT), applicable delivery fee and non-optional taxes.

A StubHub spokesperson welcomed the move and said the company would comply with the ASA’s decision. Ticketmaster, which owns GetMeIn!, also supported the ruling and affirmed their existing commitment to transparency. It said: “Our ticket resale sites already ensure fans know exactly what they will pay at every stage of the buying process, displaying all fees as soon as the customer selects and submits the number of tickets they are looking to buy.”

Viagogo has been banned from using the slogan “official site” as it misled customers into believing that it was a primary ticketing outlet rather than a secondary resale site.

The ASA has also banned Viagogo from claiming that consumers had a “100% guarantee” of entry into the relevant venue when there is a reasonable risk that they would be denied entry. One advertisement investigated suggested that consumers who bought Viagogo tickets would be guaranteed entry to an Ed Sheeran concert when this was not the case.

A spokesperson for FanFair Alliance, the leading campaign group on secondary ticketing, said: “While we welcome today’s ASA ruling and hope it goes some way to addressing this latter issue, what’s absolutely crucial now is enforcement. Without proper sanctions, we fear that much-needed reforms will not be implemented, particularly by Viagogo, and the public will continue to be duped.”

The ASA’s clampdown follows recent government legislation that will force secondary ticketing sites to provide purchasers with detailed information about the location of seats, disclosure of any restrictions and the original price of the ticket, to provide greater clarity for consumers and helping ensure they are paying a fair price.

The ASA’s chief executive, Guy Parker, said: “Many of us will recognise the frustration of being happy with the initial price of tickets on a secondary website only to be stung by hefty fees when we come to book. The message from our rulings is simple and it’s clear: the price you see at the start should be the price you pay at the end.”

In November 2017 Competition and Markets Authority officials raided the offices of StubHub and Viagogo to seize data relating to schemes that allegedly benefit industrial-scale touts.

It was also announced that secondary ticketing firms could be fined or taken to court after a year-long investigation by the UK competition regulator uncovered “widespread concerns” about breaches of consumer law.

Google has also imposed tough restrictions on ticket resellers, barring them from claiming to be an “official” source of tickets in Google results when they are in fact selling them secondhand.