Coldplay singer Chris Martin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 21. BARSON ANNE/ABACA It only took a few minutes for Coldplay to sell out in India. A performance which says as much about the notoriety of the British group as it does about the South Asian giant. On September 22, some 13 million people glued to their smartphone or computer screens clicked frantically in an attempt to get their hands on the 150,000 tickets available for Coldplay’s two concerts in Mumbai, scheduled for January 18 and 19, 2025. , as part of the “Music of the Spheres World Tour”. The platform responsible for selling tickets, BookMyShow, could not withstand such an influx and simply crashed, leaving many fans disappointed. Then, in no time, places were on the black market at much higher prices. The price of tickets, initially between 22 and 380 euros, has increased tenfold, reaching several thousand euros. Fans of the English pop-rock group were then outraged on social networks. Many accuse smart people of having used bots to bypass online queues and buy several tickets, with the sole objective of reselling them for more. Among the disappointed fans, a lawyer named Amit Vyas went as far as filing a complaint with the Mumbai police. For him, there is no doubt that BookMyShow was in cahoots with “black sellers”, to defraud the public and boost its income. An investigation into fraud was opened, and the CEO of the platform, Ashish Hemrajani, was questioned by the police on September 30. The company claims to have “no links” with unauthorized resellers. “Resale on the black market is punishable by Indian law,” specifies the platform, in a press release published on fans to beware of “such scammers”. BookMyShow has filed an appeal, and is reportedly exploring the possibility of canceling “unethically sold” Coldplay concert tickets, without explaining how. The group, for its part, has scheduled a third concert on January 21, which was also taken by storm. A booming sector India and its 1.4 billion inhabitants are used to facing demand that far exceeds supply, in all areas. Whether it is to get a place in a renowned university, or to obtain a job in the civil service, Indians know how to elbow each other. For example, in 2022, we saw 12.5 million people apply for 35,000 positions in the railways. You have 47.6% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
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