Equal Right to Entertainment: Akhilesh Raises Concern Over Fake Coldplay Concert Tickets in India

Coldplay Mumbai Concert Tickets: Ever since the British pop-rock band announced their India tour, fans wanted in anticipation to grab their tickets. On September 22, the sales for the tickets went live at noon with all shows, including an extra added on popular demand, selling out almost immediately. This brought into picture reselling apps like Vivagogo and Gigsberg which guaranteed tickets to fans at a 200-300 times inflated price. BookMyShow, which is the official ticketing partner of the gig has warned users against buying tickets from scalping sites and has even filed a police complaint. Now, the National President of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav has also raised concerns about the fake and illegal tickets being sold rampantly.

Akhilesh Yadav says only ‘middlemen’ benefit from Coldplay fake tickets row 

As per reports, 1.3 crore people attempted to access BookMyShow on the day of Coldplay ticket sales. However, most fans were left disappointed after not being able to secure tickets. This led to a diversion of traffic on reselling apps that claimed to give guaranteed tickets but sold them at an extraorbiant price. Talking about the fake and illegal tickets being sold, Akhilesh Yadav , on September 23, took to his X (formerly Twitter), to write in Hindi how the rush created for the tickets raises concern.

His post, when translated, read “The rush that has been created in the country for advance booking of a musical concert of international repute is a matter of concern. As soon as the booking opens, all the tickets get booked within a short time and then the news of those tickets being sold in black for lakhs, at 20-50 times the price, is a challenge at the level of governance and administration.” He highlighted the importance to stop “ illegal sales and fake ticket racket?”

He stressed that it is the middlemen who benefit the most from such frenzy and shared, “It is true that artists should get the right remuneration for their art but in such an environment, the real money is earned by middlemen, due to which on one hand the rights of the artists are violated and on the other hand the tax that the government gets is also lost.”

This is the human-social aspect of art that it should be accessible to all: Akhilesh Yadav  

The Samajwadi Party leader also questioned art becoming a business in his post. Akhilesh Yadav continued his post by writing, “The truth is that everyone should have equal rights to entertainment. If art is limited to the purchasing power of a few people, then it becomes just a business. It is not possible for a rich person to always be an expert, connoisseur or a true enjoyer of art. In such a situation, artists do not get true respect nor does their art get proper appreciation.” He concluded it by saying, “This is the human-social aspect of art that it should be accessible to all.”

BookMyShow issues warning against scalpers reselling Coldplay concert tickets in India 

Akhilesh Yadav 's concern comes after BookMyShow issued a stern warning against scalping websites like Viagogo and Gigsberg. The ticketing app shared that it has no association with any such app and has filed a police complaint against them. A part of their statement read, "Scalping is strictly condemned and punishable by law in India. We have filed a complaint with the police authorities and will provide complete support to them in the investigation of this matter.” It concluded, “We urge you not to fall victim to these scams. Any tickets bought from unauthorised sources will be at the risk of the consumer and can turn out to be fake tickets. Beware of such scammers.”
 

Coldplay, fronted by Chris Martin, is scheduled to perform in Mumbai on January 18-19 and 21, 2025.