Coldplay India Concert Row: Delhi HC Issues Notice On PIL Seeking Guidelines Against Black Marketing

Coldplay has been in the news since the British boy band announced a 3-day concert in India. The concert will take place in Mumbai in January 2025. When the band released the concert tickets on BookMyShow, it turned into a total fiasco with people accusing the ticketing platform of blackmarketing. Earlier, a  Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed seeking the formulation and implementation of a regulatory framework regarding the reselling of tickets for concerts through an authorized ticketing platform. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court issued notice on a PIL.

PIL over reselling of tickets for Coldplay concerts through an 'unauthorized' ticketing platform

According to Livelaw, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela also sought a response from the Union Government and other authorities over the unauthorised sale of tickets.

PIL moved by one Samridhi and other individuals further seeks to block unauthorised online platforms from operating in India. Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao urged to tackle the issue soon to avoid incidents of reselling the tickets.

Earlier this week a PIL was moved in the Bombay High Court seeking guidelines to curb black marketing and ticket scalping at major events, in the backdrop of alleged foul play during the online ticket sale for Coldplay's concert in Mumbai. The plea was mentioned on Monday for urgent hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar.

How many Coldplay Concert tickets were available on BookMyShow?

As per reports, the BookMyShow COO Anil Makhija shared with the Economic Offences Wing that the ticket aggregator site had purchased 1.2 Lakh tickets for the concert. The app was the exclusive ticket-selling partner for the concert in January. The aggregator purchased the tickets from the band to resell them on their platform to Indian fans. In his statement, Anil also shared that BookMyShow priced the tickets between Rs 2,500 and Rs 35,000. As per reports, the officer was summoned by the body again on October 3 along with necessary documentation and data pertaining to the case.

The band has three shows at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19 and 21 next year as part of its “Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025”.