As per media reports, BookMyShow's CEO and Co-founder, Ashish Hemrajani, and the company's technical head have been summoned by the Mumbai Police in connection with allegations of black marketing tickets for British rock band Coldplay's upcoming concerts. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has launched an investigation following a complaint by advocate Amit Vyas, who accused the ticketing platform of enabling the illegal resale of tickets for Coldplay’s concert at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, set to take place from 19 to 21 January, 2025.
According to the official, Hemrajani and the technical head were called on 28 September, 2024 to provide their statements. Advocate Vyas claimed that tickets for the concert, initially priced at Rs 2,500, are being resold by third parties and influencers for as much as Rs 3 lakh.
He accused BookMyShow of misleading the public and Coldplay fans, urging that a fraud case be filed against the company. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has already taken Vyas' statement and identified multiple brokers involved in the alleged ticket scalping.
Uddhav Camp’s perspective
The Opposition Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has raised concerns about a possible ‘nexus involved in the black-marketing’ of tickets for the Coldplay India concert. The party has called for a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
"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,” Anand Dubey, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson brought out in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, as per media reports.
“I believe that with your intervention, appropriate measures can be taken to prevent such incidents,” he emphasised to Shinde.
BJP opines
A member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also accused the organisers of the Coldplay India concert of being ‘involved’ in the black marketing of 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 clarified.
When ticket sales for Coldplay's Mumbai concert opened on 22 September, 2024, the BookMyShow platform crashed due to high demand. The British rock band, returning to India after an eight-year break, subsequently added a third show to the Mumbai leg of their ‘Music of the Spheres World’ Tour 2025.
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