Mumbai Police summons BookMyShow CEO over alleged ticket black marketing

The summons was issued following a complaint filed by attorney Amit Vyas, who accused the company of allowing tickets for the highly anticipated Coldplay concert to be sold on the black market

The ticketing platform also released an official statement clarifying that it is not affiliated with any ticket sales or resale platforms, including Viagogo and Gigsberg, or any third party resellers of Coldplay Music Of The Spheres World Tour tickets 2025 in India

A few days ago, BookMyShow filed a complaint with the police regarding the resale of tickets for the exclusive event ‘Coldplay: Music Of The Spheres World Tour’

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has summoned the chief executive officer (CEO) of Big Tree Entertainment, parent company of BookMyShow, Ashish Hemrajani, and the company’s CTO in connection with alleged black marketing of tickets for Coldplay’s upcoming concert in Mumbai.

As per an ANI report, both the directors have been asked to appear before the investigating officer today (September 28) to record their statements.

The summons was issued following a complaint filed by attorney Amit Vyas, who accused the company of allowing the sale of tickets to a black market Coldplay concert.

He accused BookMyShow defrauding the public and fans of Coldplay by calling for an FIR to be lodged against the company on charges of fraud.

The EOW has already taken note of Vyas’ statement and identified several brokers allegedly involved in ticket scalping. The investigation is ongoing and more people will likely be called in this matter.

The ticketing platform has released an official statement clarifying that it has no affiliation with any ticket sales or resale platforms, including Viagogo and Gigsberg, or any third party resellers of Coldplay Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 tickets in India . “Scalping is strictly condemned and punishable in India. We have lodged a complaint with the police authorities and will provide them with full support in investigating the matter.”

“We appeal to you not to fall victim to these scams. Any tickets purchased from from unauthorized sources will be at the consumer’s riskand may turn out to be fake tickets. Beware of such fraudsters,” he added.

A few days ago BookMyShow also filed a police complaint regarding ticket resale for its exclusive Coldplay: Music Of The Spheres World Tour event.

For context, tickets for the concert were available on BookMyShow on Sunday, September 22 at 1:30 p.m. and sold out within minutes. The overwhelming demand caused the platform to crash, sparking public outrage on social media. Ticket prices initially started from INR 12,500 but are now being resold for INR 4 lakh on various platforms.

Soon after the sale began, BookMyShow issued a statement clarifying that the concert tickets were listed on resale platforms both before and after their official release.

A BookMyShow spokesperson told Inc42 that the company has taken various steps to ensure a smooth ticketing process for fans when selling Coldplay concerts.

“We implemented a queuing system to manage the overwhelming demand and resolved issues caused by suspicious and malicious traffic within minutes, causing a short delay but ensuring minimal disruption to real fans. Due to the unprecedented demand, a third show in Mumbai was added shortly thereafter, which also received a fantastic response,” the spokesperson added.

Coldplay’s upcoming concert, which is part of the Music of the Spheres 2025 world tour, is one of the most awaited events in India. Scheduled to be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai from January 19 to 21, 2025, it caused great excitement. When the tickets went on sale, over 13 million fans logged in to BookMyShow, causing it to crash, and the tickets sold out within minutes.

This comes at a time when BookMyShow is pushing for exclusive international events due to strong demand. Earlier this month, Inc42 reported that the company bought exclusive rights put on a “Sunburn Festival” a few years ago for hundreds of billions of dollars, and it was a mostly profitable investment.