 "Ahead of Diljit Dosanjh's show, ED raids in 5 cities over illegal ticket sales")
The central probe agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted extensive raids in five cities, including Delhi and Mumbai over the illegal sale of tickets of singer Diljit Dosanjh and British band Coldplay’s concerts.
Raids were also carried out in Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Chandigarh. Tickets for Diljit’s ongoing ‘Dil-Luminati Tour’ and Coldplay’s upcoming concerts in Mumbai sold out within minutes of becoming available on platforms Zomato Live and BookMyShow. The swift sell-out has fueled accusations that middlemen may be driving black-market sales, reselling tickets at inflated prices.
After last month’s incident over Coldplay tickets, BookMyShow also warned its users against falling for scams on fake websites or buying them from unauthorised sources, which could lead to their tickets being fake or invalid. Diljit’s two-day performances in India will be held in Delhi starting today.
For the Coldplay concert in Mumbai, 150,000 tickets were available but apparently 10 million people logged into BookMyShow website to grab them. The tickets that were priced from Rs 2,500 to Rs 35,000 on the official website, were later spotted on re-selling sites like Viagogo, priced at up to Rs 10 lakh.
In early October, BookMyShow lodged a first information report with the Mumbai police, alleging fraud and impersonation by those reselling the tickets at exorbitant prices. The FIR named 30 suspects, including some linked to Viagogo. This was after the company received complaints from some individuals over the presence of accounts and websites, where tickets were being sold at inflated costs. BookMyShow also carried out its preliminary enquiry.
Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav had criticised the incident. Yadav raised questions on the law and order situation and challenges for the governance due to such episodes and violation of the rights of the artists as well as that of the public’s “right to entertainment.”