How police complaint by Mumbai lawyer who couldn’t get Coldplay tickets led to probe against BookMyShow, others

As portion of its probe, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai constabulary has issued a summons to Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited, the institution that owns BookMyShow, and the company’s method head, for inquiry.

“I was disappointed that I did not get a ticket. However, erstwhile I checked with astir 100 radical who I cognize are regulars astatine concerts, nary of them had gotten a ticket. This made maine suspicious. I past decided to attack the constabulary arsenic I knew that thing was amiss,” Vyas said.

“They person a batch to explicate for logging retired oregon not allowing fans successful India to entree the BookMyShow app and tract crisp astatine noon connected Sunday, September 22, for capable clip to fto them merchantability the tickets to achromatic marketeers/ticket scalpers/bots and whoever they wanted thereby cheating Coldplay fans,” Vyas said.

Vyas said helium filed the ailment connected behalf of each Coldplay fans crossed India “for the online ticketing scam committed…in merchantability of tickets for Coldplay’s Live Concert scheduled to instrumentality spot astatine D Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai successful January 2025”.

The set volition execute successful Navi Mumbai connected January 18, 19, and 21 adjacent year.

Vyas alleged successful his ailment that BookMyShow and Live Nation Entertainment, done their promoters/directors/key managerial personnel, person indulged successful foul play by logging retired genuine fans and past deploying summons bots to make an artificial integer queue to deprive genuine purchasers of the accidental to bargain tickets.

The tickets were sold retired wrong a tiny model of clip and were disposable connected the ticketing tract Viagogo, wherever they are priced exorbitantly high, a wide denotation that they were made disposable to Viagogo successful bulk, which needs to beryllium thoroughly investigated, the ailment states.

“It is evident that BookMyShow and Live Nation Entertainment person colluded to black-market the performance tickets to achromatic marketeers/Viagogo, who are present selling tickets astatine prices 30 to 50 times higher than their archetypal price,” Vyas said successful his complaint.

He besides alleged that BookMyShow and Live Nation Entertainment cheated the nationalist astatine ample and hence the ailment has been filed seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against some organisations arsenic good arsenic their promoters, directors and cardinal managerial unit for committee of assorted offences, including cheating, organised crime, transgression breach of spot etc.

“I americium besides successful the process of filing a PIL earlier the Bombay High Court seeking due guidelines for specified large events,” Vyas added.

Ticket scalping, a concern

Police officials and lawyers The Indian Express spoke to said that determination was a request for guidelines successful ticketing, particularly with issues similar scalping tickets and reselling them astatine precocious prices becoming a regular happening with highly sought-after events similar concerts of Coldplay, Diljit Dosanjh and adjacent World Cup cricket matches becoming a regular occurrence.

Ticket scalping is the enactment of reselling tickets, usually successful bulk, for admittance to events. Tickets are bought from licenced sellers and past sold for a terms determined by the idiosyncratic oregon institution successful possession of the tickets.

In the lawsuit of Coldplay, societal media users identified 2 reselling platforms, Viagogo and Gigsberg, arsenic selling tickets astatine precocious rates wrong minutes of it going unrecorded connected BookMyShow. Many besides raised questions astir however these reselling platforms got entree to tickets crossed categories.

BookMyShow, however, released a connection precocious connected Tuesday stating, “BookMyShow has nary relation with immoderate ticket-selling/reselling platforms specified arsenic Viagogo and Gigsberg oregon third-party individuals for the intent of reselling Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025 successful India.”

“Scalping is strictly condemned and punishable by instrumentality successful India. We person filed a ailment with the constabulary authorities and volition supply implicit enactment to them successful the investigation. We impulse you not to autumn unfortunate to these scams. Any tickets bought from unauthorised sources volition beryllium astatine the hazard of the user and tin crook retired to beryllium fake tickets. Beware of specified scammers,” the connection added.

When contacted aft the summons was issued, a BookMyShow spokesperson said, “At BookMyShow and BookMyShow Live, we person worked hard to guarantee each instrumentality had a just accidental to unafraid tickets, providing clear, step-by-step booking guides and maintaining transparent connection done each our authoritative channels. We implemented a queueing strategy to negociate the overwhelming request and addressed issues caused by suspicious and malicious postulation wrong minutes, causing a little delay, but ensuring minimal disruption for genuine fans. Due to the unprecedented demand, a 3rd Mumbai amusement was added soon thereafter, which besides received a fantastic response.”

Advocate Pradeep Gharat said that if determination is simply a announcement fixed that tickets are to beryllium purchased from 1 level astatine definite rates, those trying to skew the process tin beryllium booked nether sections of the Prevention of Black Marketing Act, 1980.

“There has to beryllium enactment taken successful specified cases oregon other immoderate Tom, Dick and Harry volition commencement selling tickets. In specified cases, adjacent reselling astatine a higher complaint is wrongful arsenic the summation is not 1 obtained by ineligible methods similar a retailer purchasing from a wholesaler. In specified cases, vantage is being taken of the precocious request of a definite lawsuit which tin beryllium charged nether the Prevention of Black Marketing Act, 1980,” helium said.

He likened it to the touts who would basal extracurricular cinema houses backmost successful the time selling tickets successful achromatic against whom enactment was taken by the police.

Vyas said that broadly speaking, reselling is allowed successful India wherever determination are platforms similar Olx wherever articles are resold. However, helium added, “Even erstwhile it comes to Amazon, they show who the seller is. In this case, these secondary marketplace websites bash not amusement you the seller. The question is wherever they got the tickets from if they conscionable claimed to beryllium a platform,” Vyas said.

As per Vyas, the offence should beryllium registered nether transgression breach of trust. “If the summons model of a cinema location from wherever users person to acquisition the tickets is shut, it is indirectly forcing fans to acquisition from touts extracurricular who are selling astatine higher rates. Hence, they excessively are complicit successful the crime,” helium added.

An IPS officer, however, said that successful cases of transgression breach of trust, the enactment whose spot has been breached has to springiness a complaint, which successful this lawsuit would beryllium Coldplay. “If the constabulary probe reveals that bots were utilized to acquisition tickets oregon determination is immoderate method grounds recovered based connected forensic reports of the portal astir immoderate abnormal activity, an offence could beryllium registered. In the lack of that, it would beryllium hard to registry an offence,” the serviceman said.

Coding, bots, and allegations of fraud

Vyas said that if BookMyShow claims that bots were utilized by portals to publication tickets, they should person had measures similar Captcha codification to forestall it. Also, they should person reported it to the constabulary the aforesaid day, helium added.

“One of the prayers successful my ailment is to let entree to BookMyShow’s integer footprint truthful that the constabulary tin find retired what enactment took spot betwixt 12 and 12.30 p.m. erstwhile the booking went live,” Vyas said.

“ I asked a cyber adept if it would beryllium imaginable to bash a cyber probe and find retired whether BookMyShow deliberately logged disconnected radical from their app and website astatine 12 noon connected September 22 for 15 to 20 minutes for unlawful merchantability of Coldplay tickets to achromatic marketeers. He confirmed that it tin beryllium done if helium gets entree to BookMyShow’s systems, their audit logs and terms alteration mechanism,” Vyas said.

Apart from this, immoderate societal media users besides claimed to person utilized coding to get into the BookMyShow website to get entree to tickets adjacent earlier they went live. An serviceman said that this too, if proved, could beryllium taken arsenic an offence if the close enactment approaches the police.

As the Mumbai constabulary statesman their probe, similar Vyas, thousands of Coldplay fans deprived of tickets volition beryllium watching the probe closely.