Ticketing platform BookMyShow has filed a formal First Information Report (FIR) with regards to black marketing of tickets for the Coldplay concerts. The company also released a statement where it highlighted that they might cancel the tickets that have been sold illegally on third-party platforms. The FIR was filed on October 2.
As per ANI, the FIR has been filed under Section 318(4) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita that deals with punishment for cheating by personation and Section 66(c) of the IT Act.
While the FIR didn’t reportedly have anyone’s name, BookMyShow did give details such as names, e-mail IDs, and WhatsApp numbers through which the tickets were sold illegally.
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The ticketing platform, in its statement, reportedly added, “BookMyShow sold tickets for Coldplay via their website and mobile application on September 22. Before the sale, BookMyShow had warned users to beware of fake tickets via this Instagram account. BookMyShow also mentioned on its mobile application and website that there won't be any physical tickets. During the sale of tickets, both the website and application were down for a while.” Read: How Zomato-Paytm Deal Can Disrupt BookMyShow's Monopoly
The platform also highlighted that they got a request from one Ashwin for bulk ticket purchases. The company denied tickets to him as they came to know that Ashwin was planning to resell the tickets and also to advance money from many, as per a report by CNBC TV18.
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BookMyShow further added in a statement that in the FIR, they provided details of resellers who came to their attention that includes reselling platforms such as Viagogo and Stubhub Holdings.
Meanwhile, ticket reselling platform Viagogo, has denied any involvement with BookMyShow. The official spokesperson of the company said, as per media reports, “Tickets listed on Viagogo come from a range of sources, including multinational event organizers, corporate ticket holders, season ticket holders, sponsors, and fans who simply can no longer attend an event.”
Mumbai Police Records Statement of BookMyShow COO
The Mumbai police started an investigation on BookMyShow after the tickets sold at BookMyShow were later sold at an inflated price on other platforms or by other people. So a ticket whose original price is Rs 12,500, was being sold at Rs 3 lakh on other secondary websites.
Following this, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police decided to probe into the matter. Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited, the parent of BookMyShow, was also summoned by the Mumbai police, but he missed the summons. Hemrajani skipped the summons two times. The case emerged after advocate Amit Vyas filed a FIR against BookMyShow with regards to black marketing of tickets.
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