The Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing has summoned the chief executive officer of ticketing platform BookMyShow, Ashish Hemrajani, in connection with the ticket sales for concerts of the British band Coldplay, PTI reported on Friday.
The police also summoned BookMyShow’s technical head, who was not identified by the news agency.
The British band is scheduled to perform at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19 and 21. Tickets for the concerts were sold exclusively on BookMyShow on September 22.
They sold out within minutes and were soon being scalped via third-party ticketing platforms and individuals.
A lawyer named Amit Vyas then filed a complaint with the police accusing BookMyShow of facilitating black marketing of the tickets, ANI reported, quoting unidentified officials.
In his complaint, Vyas claimed that tickets that were originally priced at Rs 2,500 were being resold for as much as Rs 3 lakh, according to ANI. Vyas sought the registration of a first information report on charges of fraud.
“A preliminary inquiry [into the alleged unauthorised resale of tickets] has begun,” ANI quoted an unidentified official as saying.
The police have recorded Vyas’ statement and spoken to several brokers involved in the alleged resale of the tickets.
As per the Maharashtra Entertainment Act, the resale of tickets at inflated prices is prohibited in the state.
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