ED detects irregularities in ticket sales for concerts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has discovered irregularities after conducting raids in a money laundering case to investigate ‘black marketing’ of tickets for popular music concerts by British rock band Coldplay and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh. The agency has filed a case for money laundering after conducting searches on Friday at 13 locations in five states – Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Punjab (Chandigarh) – after the federal investigation agency had filed a criminal investigation. case under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

While Dosanjh’s ‘Dil-Luminati’ concert is scheduled for the weekend of October 26-27 at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium in the national capital, Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres World Tour’ event is scheduled for January 2025 at Navi Mumbai. The ED said in a statement that it initiated an investigation after numerous reports emerged that individuals and fans were “cheated/cheated” by “fraudulent” ticket sales following the rapid sell-out of tickets. The agency has taken note of multiple police FIRs filed across the country in the case, including one filed by online ticket booking portal BookMyShow, against several suspects for “suspectedly exploiting concert goers.”

The FIR alleges that these persons were engaged in selling fake tickets and drastically inflating the prices, taking advantage of the high demand for these coveted concerts, the ED said. These concerts were said to be an “exciting” and “long-awaited” announcement for music lovers across India.

Both events generated huge excitement and official ticketing partners such as BookMyShow and Zomato Live reported that the tickets sold out within minutes on their platforms, which “ultimately led to black marketing of tickets at exorbitant prices.”

Many fans have discovered that counterfeit tickets have been sold or that legitimate tickets have been charged exorbitant prices, the agency said. According to reports, the tickets were sold for Rs.32,000 to Rs.60,000. “Searches and investigations conducted by ED have revealed information about multiple persons known for issuing such tickets, including fake tickets through social media using Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram,” the agency said.

The ED said that during the raids, several ‘incriminating’ materials in the form of mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards, etc. used in ticketing, ‘scam’ were seized. The searches were aimed at investigating the illegal sale of tickets, financial networks that support these scams, and detecting the proceeds of crime arising from such illegal activities, the report said.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre’s response on a plea seeking a regulatory framework to regulate the resale of these concert tickets through authorized platforms. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued a notice to the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Electronics, and Information Technology, private entities Stubhub Inc, Viagogo Entertainment Inc and Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd.