BookMyShow CEO summoned again over black marketing of Coldplay concert tickets

BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani has been asked to appear today before the investigating officer to record his statement.

In Short

• BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani asked to appear today to record statement
• He was earlier asked to appear on September 27
• Coldplay to perform in India in January 2025

Mumbai Police has sent summons to BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani for the second time for questioning over the alleged black marketing of tickets English rock band Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour in the city in January 2025.

The fresh summons was issued to Hemrajani and the company's technical head on Sunday and the two have been asked to appear before the investigating officer today to record their statements.

The Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had sent the first summons on September 27, but the two failed to appear before it.

Police initiated a probe based on the complaint of advocate Amit Vyas, who accused the online ticketing platform of black marketing of tickets of the British band that is slated to perform in Mumbai from January 19 to 21 next year.

Vyas argued that the prices of the tickets, which ranged from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, were being sold at exorbitant prices by third party sellers and scalpers.

However, BookMyShow distanced itself from the allegations, condemned ticket scalping and said that it had no association with any resellers. A police complaint was also filed by the ticketing platform over the issue.

Furthermore, the company issued an advisory, urging honest patrons of the band to not purchase tickets from third party sellers, warning of the risk of counterfeit tickets and potential financial loss.

Coldplay will be performing in India after an eight-year-long break. The band last performed in India in 2016 at the Global Citizen Festival.

While the announcement of the band's performance was welcomed with thumping excitement, the process of purchasing tickets was disappointing. Even before the tickets went on sale, fans encountered server crashes and long wait times, with an estimated 1.3 crore people attempting to access the website and app on the day of the sale.

The company, however, said that a queue system was put in place to manage the high demand, and it only caused "minimal disruption" for fans of the band. The company further said that a third show was added to Coldplay's India tour, which also got a great response.