The forthcoming tour of India by British rock band Coldplay has sparked a police investigation and left fans shocked as scalpers snapped up cheap tickets to resell online for over ₹ 83000 each.
Thousands of music fans tried but were unsuccessful to buy tickets for three concerts scheduled in the financial hub Mumbai next January, sold by the popular Indian online ticket portal BookMyShow. The three shows were completely sold out in a matter of minutes, and the disappointed attendees were infuriated when they saw ₹6,000 tickets appear inflatedly listed on resale websites.
“The tickets are being sold 10 times, 20 times, or 30 times the price that is being sold on the website itself,” student Anna Abraham, 19, told the reporters. “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.”
According to local media sources, Mumbai lawyer Amit Vyas filed a complaint alleging that BookMyShow was collaborating with “black marketers” to profit extra from ticket sales, leading to an investigation by police on Monday. “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 media.
“This made me suspicious. I then decided to approach the police as I knew that something was amiss.”
BookMyShow said in a statement that it had “no association” with unauthorized ticket sales following the start of the public outcry last week. “Scalping and black marketing of tickets is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India, and BookMyShow vehemently opposes this practice,” the company said.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates