Coldplay concert news: BookMyShow CEO skips summons over ticket ‘black marketing’, Mumbai Police EOW issues 2nd notice

Coldplay concert news: Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Monday summoned Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment, the parent company of BookMyShow, and the company's technical head in connection with an investigation into the alleged black market sales of Coldplay concert tickets. This is the second summons, as neither Hemrajani nor the technical head appeared before the agency after they issued the first notice on September 27.

Also Read: Coldplay concert ticket row: A look at BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani, who started with a ‘drunk text to boss’

As reported by ANI, citing Mumbai Police, “Mumbai Police's EOW sent a summons to CEO Ashish Hemrajani of Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited, the parent company of BookMyShow and the company's technical head, yesterday. EOW had sent them summons earlier on Sep 27, but they didn't appear before the agency.”

The post added, “They have been asked to appear before the investigating officer today and record their statements. Advocate Amit Vyas had complained to EOW about the alleged black marketing of the Coldplay concert tickets.”

Also Read: ‘From Coldplay to Soldplay’: Netizens fume amid Mumbai Police probe against BookMyShow for ticket ‘black marketing’

The summons follows a complaint filed by Advocate Amit Vyas, who accused the ticketing platform of enabling the black market for tickets to the much-anticipated Coldplay concert scheduled for January 19 to 21, 2025, at DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai. Vyas claimed the tickets originally priced at ₹2,500 were being resold by third parties and influencers for up to ₹3 lakh.

In his complaint, he also accused the platform of allegedly manipulating access by logging out legitimate users or completely blocking them, which led ticket bots and black-market operators to take over the sales, the report by Bar and Bench stated.

He alleged that BookMyShow misled the public and Coldplay fans and sought an FIR against the company for fraud. The EOW recorded Vyas' statement and identified several brokers involved in the alleged ticket scalping. 

The report further stated that Vyas was seeking to register an FIR under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including organised crime, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust. Moreover, he also intended to file a public interest litigation (PIL) with the Bombay High Court to create regulatory guidelines for major events to help prevent similar fraudulent activities in the future, the report added.

Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT faction) spokesperson Anand Dubey wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday to probe into the “nexus engaged in the black-marketing of tickets.”

Also Read: BookMyShow warns fans: ‘Unauthorised platforms’ selling fake Coldplay concert tickets—‘Please don’t fall prey…’

In his letter, Dubey stated that the concert tickets were “reportedly” sold out within minutes of the sale going live. However, he added that despite the official ticketing partner BookMyShow declaring the show as being sold out, there were other “unofficial channels” through which the tickets were made available at “exorbitant prices.”

“The tickets were reportedly sold out within minutes of being made available online, which left many genuine fans, particularly the youth, disappointed. This situation was further exacerbated when it was discovered that tickets are still available through unofficial channels at exorbitant prices despite BookMyShow officially declaring that the show is sold out,” he stated.

(With inputs from agencies)