Ashish Hemrajani, the CEO of BookMyShow theBoth, was asked to provide statements in person before the investigating officer on Saturday, September 28, 2024. parent company Big Tree Entertainment, was summoned by Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to appear in court over suspected black market sales of Coldplay concert tickets. The company's technical head was also summoned.
This is in response to a lawsuit filed by Advocate Amit Vyas, who charged BookMyShow with aiding in the black selling of tickets for the much awaited Coldplay concert, which is scheduled to take place at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai from January 19 to 21, 2025. Originally priced at ₹2,500, Vyas claims that tickets are currently being resold for up to ₹3 lakh by influencers and third parties. As a result, he is requesting that a FIR be filed against the company on the grounds of fraud.
A senior officer involved in the investigation stated, "We have received multiple complaints from the public regarding the resale of Coldplay concert tickets at inflated prices. Our investigation is focused on understanding whether there was any technical manipulation or failure on the part of BookMyShow that facilitated this black marketing."
Fans took to social media to express their frustration over the unavailability of tickets, accusing the platform of poor management and lack of transparency. Many claimed that tickets were appearing on secondary sale platforms at prices many times higher than the original value. This practice of ticket scalping has been a growing issue in India, especially for large-scale events like international concerts and sporting events.
BookMyShow, in a statement, denied any wrongdoing and assured full cooperation with the authorities. The company stated, "BookMyShow operates with the highest standards of integrity and fairness. We have stringent measures in place to prevent unauthorized access to tickets. We are cooperating fully with the Mumbai Police to assist in their investigation and ensure transparency in the process."
The Mumbai Police are expected to gather statements from the BookMyShow officials in the coming days, and further action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation.
For now, fans of Coldplay who missed out on tickets can only hope that more tickets will be made available through legitimate channels, as pressure mounts on event organizers and the ticketing platform to address the issue.
