BookMyShow CEO Skips 2nd Summons Over Coldplay Ticket ‘Black Marketing’

Mumbai: Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited, the parent company of BookMyShow, on Monday skipped the second summons from Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police for questioning with regards to alleged black marketing of tickets for the Coldplay concert scheduled for January 19-21 at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

Hemrajani and the company’s technical head had to appear before the investigating officer to record their statements. The first summons were issued on September 27 and they were asked to depose before the investigating officer on September 28. The fresh summon was issued on September 29 after they failed to do so.

According to news reports, Hemrajani neither appeared before EOW nor has sought more time either through email or his lawyer. The EOW is likely to issue a third summons and may take the necessary legal action if Hemrajani ignores it again. 

The Coldplay concert tickets were originally priced at Rs 2,500 at BookMyShow. However, just before the booking was to go live, the online ticket-booking platform crashed. Some social media users claimed that the tickets can be bought from competitor ticket booking platforms at higher prices. 

The EOW of Mumbai Police initiated an investigation after an advocate sought registration of an FIR claiming the tickets priced at Rs 2,500 were resold by third parties and influencers for up to Rs 3 lakh in an apparent case of fraud.