Indian ticketing company BookMyShow, which got caught up in the controversy around the touting, or scalping, of tickets to Coldplay concerts in the country, has said that “all stakeholders” should “come together” to tackle secondary ticketing. It made that statement after police in the Indian state of Maharashtra issued a notice mandating the ticketing firm to introduce stricter controls when selling tickets for in-demand shows.
“We strongly believe that it is critical for all stakeholders to come together and engage proactively in this matter, to find best methods to minimise these ticketing malpractices”, BookMyShow said. “We look forward to collaborating with the government to provide support and assistance in the reduction and prevention of illegal ticket sales for such marquee, high-demand live entertainment experiences”.
The CEO of BookMyShow, Ashish Hemjarani, was questioned by police in September in the wake of public outrage over the sale of tickets to Coldplay’s shows. Tickets quickly sold out on BookMyShow’s primary ticketing platform and then started appearing at hiked up prices on resale sites like Viagogo. There were allegations that BookMyShow had connections to the scalpers, but it strongly denied that claim and said it had reported the unofficial resellers to the police.
It has since assisted the police in their inquiries, the ticketing firm said last week. “We have provided all requisite information and details to law enforcement agencies in their investigations and will continue to proactively fight against scalping and black marketing of tickets – practices that are condemned and punishable by law in India”.
Actually, the legal situation regarding ticket scalping in India isn’t clear cut. Consumer rights law, including at a state level, provides some rules, but in a recent article about the Coldplay ticketing controversy for the Times Of India, Indian lawyer Vivek Narayan Sharma wrote “the legal situation is murky at best”.
Nevertheless, according to the Hindustan Times, the cyber unit of the Maharashtra police force last week issued a notice to BookMyShow ordering it to instigate stricter controls on its primary platform to restrict the flow of tickets to resale sites. That includes “name-based ticketing and verification of tickets against government-issued IDs on the day of an event”.
BookMyShow’s statement issued in response to that police notice concluded, “BookMyShow has always worked towards offering the best experiences to India’s entertainment-loving audiences. With Coldplay’s India tour, Maroon 5’s upcoming India performance, Lollapalooza India and many such acts in the pipeline, we remain committed to bringing the biggest and most marquee global events to Indian consumers who we firmly believe deserve the best”.