Explained: Coldplay, Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla Concerts Have Viagogo Ticket Resale Scam In Common

Coldplay, Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla are bringing their much-awaited musical tours to India. Naturally, the demand for tickets was high, so much so that thousands of fans waited in digital cues for hours only to be disappointed when they were not able to secure a pass despite their willingness to shell out money.

On the other hand, while these artists' concert tickets in India sold out within minutes of going live on official booking sites like Zomato and BookMyShow, they were quickly made available on Viagogo at a much higher resale price. Many tickets are still available on the website, which has emerged as a common link between high-in-demand event tickets. 

What is Viagogo?

Viagogo is one of the world’s leading secondary ticket marketplace. According to the official website, the platform allows one to free themselves from virtual queues and frantic refreshing during the sale of an event ticket. It allows sellers to name their prices and saves buyers from missing out on major events. From sports to music, comedy to dance, festivals to theatre – the website offers the widest choice of the most diverse events.

Viagogo, however, is under scanner as the ticket sale on the website is at a much higher rate. Reportedly, Coldplay concert tickets for the band's India tour were selling for up to ₹3 lakh on the site, for passes that were officially on sale for ₹38,000 maximum on the official ticketing partner site. Many have alleged foul play, claiming official ticket platforms are creating shortage and making passes available on third-party sites for a much higher price through a practice called ticket scalping.

What is ticket scalping?

According to seon.in, ticket scalping is the practice of using bots to bulk buy tickets from licensed sources and then sell them for a profit. These can be tickets of any type but often involve major sports and music events. It is also referred to as ticket touting or ticket reselling as well.  A whopping 40% of all ticket purchases online are estimated to be by scalper bots, according to Imperva. 

One of the most famous events linked with ticket scalping in the 21st century was the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In this case, the criminal used stolen identities, which he linked to individual purchases. Taking advantage of the excitement surrounding the Olympic Games, the Chinese national spent 230,000 yuan (USD 34,000) to book 527 tickets to various events using the online ticketing portal which was sold at a much higher price. He was sentenced to jail time, as well as a fine, according to the website. 

BookMyShow's say in the matter

In a statement issued by BookMyShow after Coldplay India concert tickets on the website were sold out, it recognised third-party platforms like Viagogo as "unauthorised platforms". Ticket scalping is illegal in India and punishable by law,” BookMyShow posted on X, advising fans to “Avoid scams.”