Coldplay concert row: BookMyShow lodges complaint against ticket resale; ‘27 mobile numbers’ given to police

Coldplay concert row: The official ticket partner for Coldplay, BookMyShow, on Friday, filed a case against unknown persons at Vile Parle Police Station in Mumbai, for black marketing of concert tickets. The British rock band is set to perform at the DY Patil Stadium on January 17-19th next year.

The police lodged an FIR after BookMyShow provided them with 27 mobile numbers through which Coldplay tickets were being sold at inflated rates on WhatsApp, Instagram, and other social media accounts.

The FIR came after Pooja Mitra, general manager of the legal department of BookMyShow, filed a complaint regarding the resale of concert tickets at prices as high as ₹3 lakh. In its complaint, BookMyShow said that when the tickets went live on September 22, they clearly stated that individuals should not purchase tickets from any third party, reported ANI.

Despite the warning, the ticketing platform received emails from two individuals requesting to book maximum tickets. The two people had further mentioned in the email that they had promised to secure tickets for others and had also taken money from them for the same, stated reports.

“The company has given us 27 mobile numbers, which are being used to sell tickets for the Coldplay concert through various websites like Viagogo.com. They told us that the tickets may be fake but were being sold at inflated rates,” said a police officer, reported Hindustan Times.

Individuals booked under BNSS, and IT Act 

Following the complaint, the police have booked unidentified persons under the following sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita: 318 (4) (cheating), 319 (2) (cheating by personation), and section 66C (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act, the officer added.

Earlier, Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had summoned Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment, in connection with an investigation into the alleged black market sales of Coldplay concert tickets. The CEO had, however, skipped the summon.

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