Shiv Sena (UBT) launches probe into black marketing of Coldplay tickets

Shiv Sena (UBT faction) spokesperson Anand Dubey has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

4 minutes of reading Last update: September 28, 2024 | 10:59 IST

Amid the controversy over the resale of tickets for English rock band Coldplay’s upcoming ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT faction) spokesperson Anand Dubey wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday. investigate “links involved in black ticket marketing.”

In his letter, Dubey stated that tickets for the concerts “reportedly” sold out within minutes of going on sale. However, he added that while official ticketing partner BookMyShow had declared that tickets were sold out, there were other “unofficial channels” through which tickets were available at “exorbitant prices”.

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“According to reports, tickets sold out within minutes of being made available online, leaving many true fans, especially young ones, disappointed. “The situation was further aggravated when it was discovered that tickets were still available through unofficial channels at exorbitant prices despite the official BookMyShow declaring that the show was sold out,” he stated.

“It appears that there may be a link to black ticket marketing, exploiting the enthusiasm of young fans who are willing to spend large sums of their parents’ hard-earned money to attend this concert. This not only violates the principles of integrity, but may also involve illegal activities such as money laundering, cheating and fraud,” he added.

A copy of the letter has also been sent to Maharashtra Vice-Chairman Devendra Fadnavis, Mumbai Police Commissioner and Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner requesting an inquiry into the matter.

Meanwhile, in a video he made, Dubey said that during ticket sales, the BookMyShow website would freeze within two to four seconds and the company said that after that, all tickets were sold out.

He further said that despite the tickets being sold out, the tickets were actually being sold at 5 to 10 times the price of the original through other websites, which he believed raised suspicions that BookMyShow was engaging in “black marketing” and demanded an investigation into the matter .

“Young people were thinking about buying these tickets; BookMyShow is responsible for ticket sales and preparation. When the youth wanted to buy tickets worth millions, the BookMyShow website crashed within 2-4 seconds and the company said they had sold all the tickets. The reality is that there are other websites where tickets are still being sold through black marketing at prices that are 5 to 10 times higher, so we are becoming suspicious whether BookMyShow has engaged in any black marketing. For this, we must remain cautious and vigilant and will demand a thorough and intensive investigation into the entire ticketing method on BookMyShow,” he said.

The Economic Offenses Branch of the Mumbai Police on Friday summoned Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment, the parent company of BookMyShow, along with the company’s CTO in connection with its investigation into the alleged sale of Coldplay concert tickets on the black market.

Both have been asked to appear before the investigating officer on Saturday to give statements as part of the ongoing investigation.

The summons comes after a complaint was filed by advocate Amit Vyas accusing the ticketing platform of facilitating black marketing of tickets for the much-awaited Coldplay concert to be held on January 18, 19 and 21, 2025 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

According to Vyas, the tickets, which were originally priced at Rs 2,500, were resold by third-party websites and influencers for as much as Rs 3 lakh. He alleged that BookMyShow has cheated the public and Coldplay’s fans and is seeking registration of an FIR against the company on charges of fraud.

On September 18, Coldplay officially announced their “Music of the Sphere” world tour, during which they were initially scheduled to play two shows at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, but added an additional show on January 21 due to popular demand.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard team; the rest of content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First publication: September 28, 2024 | 10:58 IST