Mumbai:

British rock band Coldplay’s upcoming tour of India has triggered a police investigation and dismayed fans after scalpers bought up cheap tickets to resell online for more than Rs 83000 a piece.

Thousands of music fans tried and failed to buy tickets for three concerts scheduled in the financial hub Mumbai next January, sold by the popular Indian online ticket portal BookMyShow. 

All three shows sold out in minutes, and those who missed out were infuriated when they saw tickets worth Rs. 6,000- appear on resale websites at vastly inflated prices.

“The tickets are being sold at 10 times, 20 times, 30 times the price that is being sold on the website itself,” student Anna Abraham, 19, told AFP. 

“I wouldn’t feel good about it myself if I knew that I paid for something 30 times more than what I could have paid for.”

Local media reports said BookMyShow’s chief operating officer was questioned by police Monday after a complaint brought by Mumbai lawyer Amit Vyas, who claimed the vendor was working with “black marketeers” to make an extra windfall on ticket sales. 

“I checked with nearly 100 people who I know are regulars at concerts, none of them had gotten a ticket,” Vyas said, according to the Indian Express newspaper. 

“This made me suspicious. I then decided to approach the police as I knew that something was amiss.”

BookMyShow issued a statement after the public backlash began last week, saying it had “no association” with unauthorised ticket selling. 

“Scalping and black marketing of tickets is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India and BookMyShow vehemently opposes this practice,” the company said. 

Controversies surrounding tickets for major international musical or sporting events are not new.

US megastar Taylor Swift lashed out at Ticketmaster in 2022 following fan anger over sales to concerts staged for her globe-spanning ‘The Eras Tour’.

The debacle sparked debate over the Ticketmaster’s privileged position in the industry amid fan complaints of hidden fees, rampant ticket scalping and limited tickets due to presales.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)

Mumbai:

The BookMyShow chief executive officer and co-founder Ashish Hemrajani and the company’s technical head have been summoned by Mumbai Police over the alleged black marketing of tickets for shows of British rock band Coldplay, an official said on Friday. The Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated a probe on the complaint of an advocate, who accused the ticketing platform of facilitating the black marketing of tickets for the Coldplay concert at the Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, scheduled to be held from January 19 to 21, 2025.

Mr Hemrajani and the BookMyShow’s technical head have been asked to record their statements on Saturday, the official said.

The advocate, Amit Vyas, filed a police complaint and alleged that Coldplay’s India tour tickets, which were originally priced at Rs 2,500, are being resold by third parties and influencers for as much as Rs 3 lakh.

He alleged that BookMyShow deceived the public and Coldplay fans, and is seeking a case to be registered against the company on fraud charges.

The EOW has already recorded Mr Vyas’ statement and has identified several brokers involved in the alleged ticket scalping.

Uddhav Camp On “Black-Marketing” Of Coldplay India Concert Tickets

The Opposition Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) said that there appears to be a “nexus engaged in the black-marketing” of tickets for the Coldplay India concert, and demanded a thorough investigation into the case.

“The tickets were reportedly sold out within minutes of being made available online, which left many genuine fans disappointed… It appears that there may be a nexus engaged in the black-marketing of tickets, exploiting the enthusiasm of young fans who are willing to spend large amounts of their parents’ hard-earned money to attend this concert,” Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey said in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“I believe that with your intervention, appropriate measures can be taken to prevent such incidents,” he told Mr Shinde.

A member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also alleged the organisers of the Coldplay India concert were “engaged” in the black marketing of the tickets.

“Whoever is involved in this matter should be in jail. We will not allow any black marketing in the state,” BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam said.

BookMyShow had crashed when the sale for Coldplay’s Mumbai concert began on September 22. The British rock band, which will return to India after an eight-year hiatus, had then added a third show to the Mumbai leg of the “Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025”.