Coldplay concert ticket case: BookMyShow CEO and techie called for questioning again today

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The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police issued an order to Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment, the parent company of BookMyShow, and the technical head of the company, to appear for questioning on Monday in connection with an investigation into the alleged black marketing of English band Coldplay's concert tickets, ANI reported.

According to ANI, Hemrajani and the technical head have been called for the second time after they failed to appear for questioning on September 27. However, the police claimed to ANI that both of them, haven't contacted the police yet regarding this matter.

An investigation was launched in response to a complaint filed by Advocate Amit Vyas accusing BookMyShow of aiding black marketing of tickets for the eagerly awaited Coldplay concert, which was scheduled to take place at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19 and 21 in the year 2025.

Following this, the company released a statement on Saturday, stating its position and the steps taken to guarantee fair ticketing.

"With 13 million (1.3 crores) fans eager to get tickets and logged in, emotions ran high on September 22nd on BookMyShow for Coldplay's 'Music Of The Spheres' World Tour 2025 in India. At BookMyShow, we've worked hard to ensure every fan had a fair chance to secure tickets, capping it at 4 tickets per user across all shows, providing clear, step-by-step booking guides and maintaining transparent communication through all our official channels," a BookMyShow spokesperson clarified, ANI reported.

BookMyShow addressed the illegal sale of tickets and mentioned, "It came to our notice however that unauthorised platforms listed (and are continuing to list) tickets for Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India, both before and after the official sale. BookMyShow has no association with any such unauthorised ticket selling/reselling platforms including but not limited to Viagogo and Gigsberg or third-party individuals to resell Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India."

Criticising the black marketing of tickets, the statement added, "Scalping and black marketing of tickets is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India and BookMyShow vehemently opposes this practice. We have not only filed a complaint with the police authorities but are also proactively working with them to provide complete support in the investigation of this matter in any manner that may be required. To our consumers, we would like to reiterate that any tickets bought from unauthorised sources will be at their own risk and may likely be invalid or fake tickets."

On September 18, the British rock band Coldplay announced their 'Music of the Sphere' World Tour, where they previously were going to perform two shows in Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, but due to high demand an extra show was added on January 21, ANI reported.

(With inputs from ANI)