Tickets for the Coldplay concert set for January next year sold out within minutes on BookMyShow, the official ticketing platform. Soon after, these tickets reappeared on secondary online marketplaces, often priced at over 3 lakh rupees, shocking many fans. With over 10 million people vying for about 180,000 tickets, this situation highlights the troubling issue of ticket scalping and black market sales. As a result, numerous fans were left disappointed, missing out on a unique chance to see their favorite artists perform.
Scalping has affected not only Coldplay events but also concerts by Diljit Dosanjh and the IPL 2023 tournaments, where tickets have been resold at exorbitant rates. BookMyShow has distanced itself from these resale activities, claiming no involvement.
However, there are suspicions that scalpers and certain online platforms may be collaborating with official ticket vendors, potentially constituting cyber fraud. Reports suggest that bots and automation tools are being utilized to evade queues and acquire multiple tickets, which are then resold at inflated prices. Fans are questioning whether the official ticketing site has taken sufficient measures to prevent these practices or if they have simply chosen to overlook the issue.
The legal landscape surrounding ticket scalping in India is quite unclear. In instances where both the buyer and seller are aware of the transaction, courts have ruled that no fraud has occurred, revealing a significant loophole. Unless ticket sellers explicitly prohibit reselling through clear terms and conditions, scalping continues to exist in a legal gray area, leaving buyers at risk.
In an exclusive conversation, Megha Sharma, Executive Editor, NewsX spoke to panelists namely, Advocate Dr Muktesh Chander, Former Chief, Cyber Division NTRO, GoI, Professor Shekhar Vijayan, Khushbu Jain, Advocate Supreme Court and a Coldplay fan named Animesh Tarale who shed light on the online ticket scam.
When asked what are the possible legal actions that could be taken against the official ticket-selling platform as well as the secondary online platforms where these exorbitant ticket exchanges took place, Advocate Dr Muktesh Chander, Former Chief, Cyber Division NTRO, GoI told NewsX, “The first important thing to note is that we can compare this situation to earlier times when cinema tickets were sold on the black market and hoarding was common. If there was a very successful movie, this type of scalping was witnessed. We also saw a similar pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a shortage of oxygen and certain medicines. This is also evident in concert tickets, visa appointments, and similar situations. The core issue is scarcity; there’s a demand and supply gap, and it is being exploited by unscrupulous middlemen.”
“Coming to the legal point,” Dr. Chander continued, “hoarding and black marketing of such items are illegal under the new act. Section 112 of the BH Act addresses petty organized crime, and unauthorized sales of tickets fall under this category. The most important thing to understand is that it is the official duty of the seller—in this case, the organizer of the event. They must ensure that tickets are purchased properly through authorized agents. Here, BookMyShow was the authorized agent. BookMyShow cannot simply wash their hands of responsibility by saying that all the tickets were sold and that some unscrupulous agent bought them for resale.”
When asked to describe the experience of booking the tickets for Coldplay concert as the price from around 35,000 to over 1 lakh, and eventually more than 3 lakh rupees , a Coldplay fan named Animesh Tarale told NewsX, “We planned everything two days in advance. The portals were going to open at 12, so we organized for three to four people, each of us with three devices from our accounts, all sitting in a room. It was a very rushed experience. We tried for the first 20 minutes just to get into the BookMyShow application, but the server was down.”
He further shared, “Since I’m actually a software engineer. I know how this could have been handled. BookMyShow should have increased their server threshold to accommodate such a large number of customers. But it wasn’t happening at that time. After about 20 minutes, we were finally able to open the application, and we got into the queue. Just after 12:09, we managed to enter, but our queue position was 19 lakh something. At that point, most of the tickets were already gone, and we were left out.”
When asked if bots were used to hoard these tickets and if it was a matter of automation tools being employed, Animesh shared, “It’s not just bots, “If a developer grants specific authorization, they can block certain IP addresses or provide authorization keys for specific automated tools. This allows people to bypass normal processes and book tickets directly. These automated tools are being used, and there is speculation about a possible collusion between the official ticket partner, BookMyShow, and the secondary platforms where tickets are being resold at these high prices.”
When asked Professor Shekhar Vijayan to share his perspective in the matter, he told NewsX, “First things first—you know, like Animesh, I understand the disappointment. I was a big fan of Michael Jackson when he came to India, and the way that situation was handled was very shabby. I think the problem in India is that when international musicians come here, the checks and balances aren’t in place. We don’t seem to learn from our mistakes.”
He continued, “It’s also a reflection of how we think as a society. Law and order have to be very strict, and organizers need to be held accountable. This isn’t just about music. As Dr. Mesh mentioned, it happened during COVID times too. Whenever there’s a scarcity of something, demand skyrockets, and people are willing to pay any price. It was true with oxygen cylinders during the pandemic, and it’s true here with concert tickets.”
Mr. Vijayan added, “The solution has to involve proper checks and balances to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity. In a country like India, with such a huge population, there will always be high demand for things like music concerts, movies, or medicines. That’s why it’s critical to have effective systems in place. Proper market regulation is needed, along with proactive measures by the organizers.”
“Why didn’t the organizers think of this beforehand?” Shekhar questioned. “They knew the Coldplay concert was happening in Mumbai, and they knew there was a massive fanbase—especially with India’s young population. Why were no proactive steps taken? Why didn’t they anticipate the demand? The people who buy tickets on the black market aren’t the real fans. They’re scammers, looking to make a quick profit. The real fans are the ones who genuinely want to attend. Unfortunately, the whole experience suffers as a result.”
He continued, “If things like this continue, mainstream international musicians may decide not to perform in India, which would reflect poorly on us as a society. There is no reason why artists shouldn’t want to perform here—India is a huge market with a vibrant culture. We’re right at the center of the action. Thanks to the media for highlighting this issue, but there needs to be an end to such practices. There should be no tolerance for corruption like this, because that’s essentially what it is—creating artificial scarcity and profiting from it.”
Shekhar concluded, “Ultimately, people are paying exorbitant prices, and this leads to serious consequences. There have even been cases of people committing suicide because they couldn’t get tickets—it’s a matter of peer pressure and societal expectations. This issue, if left unchecked, can take over society. It is critical that we enforce strict law and order and hold these organizers accountable. They cannot be allowed to get away with this.”
When asked if Indian cyber laws were strong enough to regulate this market since with advanced technology everything is booked and resold online using automated tools to hold tickets, Advocate Khushbu Jain told NewsX, “We do have laws in place. If we’re talking specifically about black market ticket sales, the Contract Act practically covers it. There needs to be a valid offer, acceptance, and price for a contract to be valid in India. But when we talk about technology, and the fact that cybercriminals are utilizing it, we need to look at this issue in three parts.”
She explained, “First, companies selling tickets should utilize technology effectively to prevent such situations. Second, there are people who will sell fake or duplicate tickets. For instance, scammers can create look-alike websites that mimic legitimate ones and sell counterfeit tickets. These tickets may look real, but when the buyer arrives at the venue, they discover it’s bogus.”
Khushbu added, “Another common scam involves duplicate tickets. Let’s say I have a valid ticket; I could sell that same ticket to multiple people. Only the first person to arrive will get entry, while the rest will be denied. This shows that scammers are taking advantage of demand and scarcity. So, the answer lies in using technology to prevent these situations. Buyers need to verify if a ticket seller is legitimate.”
“One way to mitigate this,” she suggested, “is to use a dynamic pricing model and nominative tickets. A nominative ticket means that if I buy a ticket, it will have my name on it—it’s not transferable. If I can’t attend, I should be able to return the ticket to the official platform, which would resell it at the original price, rather than an exorbitant rate.”
Check the full interview here:
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