A lawyer from Mumbai has filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), accusing BookMyShow and Live Nation Entertainment of orchestrating a massive ticket scam linked to Coldplay’s India concert. The allegations centre around the ticket sales for the three-day event scheduled for January 2025 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, tickets for which went live on Sunday, September 22, on BookMyShow – the official ticketing partner for the British band’s India shows.
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Amit Vyas, the Founder Partner of Vertices Partners, has levelled serious charges against the ticketing platforms. He claimed that they manipulated the access by either outright blocking users or forcibly logging them out. This subsequently enabled bots and black-market operators to dominate the ticket sales.
He also underscored that the tickets that were marked as sold out on BookMyShow later appeared on resale platforms like Viagogo at inflated prices, ranging from 30 to 50 times the original ticket value. Vyas added that these practices are in blatant violation of consumer rights and various provisions of Indian Criminal Law. EOW has initiated the investigation into the matter.
Vyas is also seeking to file a First Information Report (FIR) under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including organised crime, cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust, reported Bar and Bench.
Additionally, he is also planning to file a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Bombay High Court to establish stringent regulatory guidelines for large-scale events to prevent similar fradulent activities in future.
BookMyShow denies allegations
“BookMyShow has no association with any ticket selling/reselling platforms such as Viagogo and Gigsberg or third party individuals for the purpose of reselling of Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India,” said the company in a statement.
It added, “Scalping is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India. We have filed a complaint with the police authorities and will provide complete support to them in the investigation of this matter.”
The platform further urged Coldplay India fans to not fall victims to scams: “We urge you not to fall victim to these scams. Any tickets bought from unathorised sources will be at the risk of the consumer, and can turn out to be fake tickets. Beware of such scammers.”
The ticketing platform also stated, “Avoid scams! BookMyShow is the only official platform for ticket sales.”
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