Coldplay Ticket Row: COO of BookMyShow Appears Before EOW

Anil Makhija, the COO of BookMyShow parent company Big Tree Entertainment, appeared before the Mumbai Police's Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) on Monday in response to a petition claiming that there were anomalies in the ticket sales for the British band Coldplay's impending tour of India.

A city-based attorney filed a complaint with the EOW against the event's ticketing agent BookMyShow, the organizer Live Nation Entertainment, and its top management, alleging that they were manipulating the ticketing process with ticket bots.

As a result, the Mumbai Police have opened a preliminary investigation. Generally, if a preliminary investigation finds a cognisance offence, a formal complaint is filed.

If not, it is closed due to a lack of concrete proof. Shortly after the highly anticipated concert's ticket sales began on September 22, the BookMyShow website momentarily collapsed, sparking numerous complaints about the ticketing service.

In a statement, BookMyShow disclaimed any knowledge of ticket manipulation or scalping. The platform added that it had reported the black marketing of the January event tickets.

"On September 22, BookMyShow saw a surge in emotions as 13 million fans eagerly logged in and purchased tickets for Coldplay's Indian tour. A platform representative stated on Monday, "We worked hard to ensure every fan had an equal opportunity to get tickets, capping it at four per user across all shows."