BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani and the company’s technical head have been summoned again by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) as part of an investigation into allegations of black marketing of tickets for Coldplay’s upcoming concert in India. The duo had been called for questioning earlier on Saturday but have now been asked to appear before the authorities today. According to reports, both Hemrajani and the technical head have not been in communication with the police.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by advocate Amit Vyas, who accused the ticketing platform of enabling the resale of tickets at exorbitant prices for Coldplay's concerts, scheduled at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium from January 19 to 21 next year. Vyas claimed that tickets initially priced at ₹2,500 were being resold for as much as ₹3 lakh by third-party vendors and influencers. He alleged that BookMyShow had misled the public and Coldplay fans, and called for fraud charges against the company.
The police have already recorded Vyas’ statement and identified several brokers involved in ticket scalping. The issue escalated when the BookMyShow platform crashed on September 22 due to overwhelming demand as ticket sales opened for Coldplay's India leg of the "Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025." The band, returning to India after eight years, added a third show due to the high demand.
Amid the controversy, BookMyShow released a statement denying any connection with unauthorized resellers and reiterating that they had taken extensive measures to ensure a fair ticket-buying process for genuine fans. The company said it implemented a queueing system to manage the surge in demand and capped ticket purchases at four per user across all shows. However, BookMyShow acknowledged the presence of unauthorized platforms like Viagogo and Gigsberg that have listed Coldplay tickets for resale.
In response, BookMyShow filed a complaint with the police and reaffirmed its opposition to the illegal scalping and black marketing of tickets. The platform warned fans that any tickets purchased from unofficial sources could be invalid or fake.
The investigation remains ongoing, with BookMyShow pledging full cooperation with law enforcement as they work to address the issue.