Fans in India were left outraged after tickets for Coldplay’s upcoming concerts in Mumbai sold out within minutes, only to reappear on resale platforms for as much as $11,000. The British rock band, returning to India for the first time since 2016 with their Music Of The Spheres tour, is set to perform three shows in January. However, many fans were unable to secure tickets due to overwhelming demand and alleged use of bots, leaving the official vendor, BookMyShow (BMS), under scrutiny.
Tickets went on sale on September 22 at noon, with prices ranging from $30 to $417. However, the BMS website and app reportedly crashed, and when fans managed to join the virtual queue, they found themselves competing with hundreds of thousands of others. Tickets sold out rapidly, and soon appeared on resale platforms for exorbitant prices of up to 960,000 rupees ($11,458), sparking accusations of fraud and unfair ticket distribution.
Amit Vyas, a lawyer based in Mumbai, filed a complaint with the police, accusing the ticketing platform of facilitating scalping and enabling tickets to be resold at inflated prices. On Monday, the CEO of BookMyShow, Ashish Hemjarani, was summoned by Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing for questioning regarding the alleged black market resale of tickets. BMS issued a statement disassociating itself from any resellers and announced that they had filed their own complaint with authorities against the sale of fake tickets.
Frustrated fans, including 26-year-old journalist Arkatapa Basu and 22-year-old engineering student Ishaan Jhamb, shared their disappointment. Some fans gave up on purchasing tickets after facing massive virtual queues, while others considered alternative concert venues abroad due to the inflated resale prices in India. Jhamb and his friends decided to fly to Abu Dhabi to watch the band, as it was more affordable than paying the steep resale prices in Mumbai.
The fiasco is part of a broader global issue with ticket-buying for major events. Similar criticism has been levied against platforms like Ticketmaster, particularly during high-demand events like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, raising questions about dynamic pricing and the role of resellers in inflating prices.