Indian Authorities Summon Ticketing Platform Executives Amidst Complaints about Unchecked Scalping for Coldplay Concerts
A series of disgruntled Indian fans of the British rock band, Coldplay, prompted authorities to summon executives of a ticketing platform. The fans who were unable to buy tickets for the upcoming Coldplay concerts in Mumbai, complained about unregulated scalping. Adding to a global trend of escalating prices and growing competition for tickets to see international artists, fans globally are becoming more vocal about their dissatisfaction with the ticket selling platforms and demand that officials intervene.
In recent developments, the UK government started closely examining the American company, Ticketmaster, after fans of the rock band Oasis raised complaints about its "dynamic pricing" mechanism for the band’s comeback tour. Renowned for its calamitous 2022 sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, is also faced with an antitrust suit initiated by the American Justice Department in that same year.
In India, Coldplay fans expressed their disappointment on BookMyShow, the authorized ticketing platform for the band’s Music of the Spheres world tour, with complaints ranging from long waiting times to software errors. Exacerbating fans' frustration was the rampant scalping which saw tickets being sold for many times their original price. The Indian fans' experience was amplified by a woman named Lavanya Maheshwari who, alongside her friends, made multiple attempts to purchase tickets, only to find that their efforts were in vain due to the website crashing before the sale process could commence.
Ticket prices ranged from 2,500 rupees ($30) to 35,000 rupees ($415), but reselling platforms listed these tickets at astounding prices, even up to thousands of dollars. Lavanya voiced her disappointment, stating that Coldplay was the first English band she listened to and her dream of seeing them live was hampered by these escalated prices.
In response to the backlash, the ticketing platform admitted to a slight delay but defended its stance by arguing that they had enforced a four-ticket limit per person to manage the high demand. They also distanced themselves from resale platforms like Viagogo and denounced scalping and black marketing of tickets as strictly illegal in India. To ensure public safety, BookMyShow submitted a police complaint against possible fraudulent activities and cautioned the public about buying such tickets.
Originally, the Coldplay concert was meant to span two days at the DY Patil Stadium with a total capacity of 45,000. However, due to the overwhelming demand, an extra show was added on Jan 21. Despite the additional opportunity, Maheshwari and her friends were still unable to buy tickets, with tickets now going at unaffordable prices.