In the next few months, India will witness some big concerts. The season kicks off this month when Diljit Dosanjh and Coldplay concert tickets go live. When fans played their fastest fingers, tickets sold out within minutes – and soon resurfaced on resale websites, social media and group chats at exorbitant prices, even as high as ₹12 lakhs. As scalpers target desperate fans, Coldplay concert organizers are urging people not to “fall prey to illegal platforms selling fake tickets.” The post added that “Ticket scalping is illegal in India and punishable by law.” However, due to the prevalence of scalping – whether for concert tickets or cricket matches – we decode what the law is.
Delhi Police officials said that when they take action against fake IPL tickets and black marketing of match tickets, they did not receive any complaints about the concert. They add that no action can be taken unless a complaint is filed. Event organizers say they can limit the number of tickets a single person can buy, they can’t do anything about consumer-to-consumer sales.
If scalping happens from consumer to consumer, how can we control it, asked the committee
Deepak Choudhary, founder and MD of Eva Live said, “In two recent cases, we have seen hyperactive consumer behavior. As an event industry, we cannot do much to stop this; we can only ensure that as many tickets as possible go to the real disposal. That’s why we check that one person can only buy four tickets, but if it happens from consumer to consumer, how do you control it?
Rajiv Jain of EEMA (Event and Entertainment Management Association), which deals with regulation in the event industry, said, “This is a new phenomenon that the event industry in India is seeing. We have not seen this kind of hype for any concert in India. We will take it up with organizers and stakeholders to implement measures to reach a deal ticket scalping.”
Strong laws are needed to stop scalping, said lawyers
Senior lawyer Ameet Naik, who has handled many cases in the entertainment industry, said, “Scalping tickets for major events manipulates the market and discourages genuine fans and the public from enjoying live events. Black marketing or reselling tickets for live events at inflated prices is offense under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 for petty crimes, Consumer Protection Act 2019 for unfair trade practices, and the Competition Act 2002 for abuse of dominant position. Recently there was a debate with the ‘Book Now Sell Anytime’ feature for Dua Lipa’s concert. These features must be legally scrutinized to determine whether black marketing is legitimate and in compliance with the law.
Ameet said, “Due to this growing phenomenon, a PIL was recently filed in the Madras High Court (WP No. 11463 of 2024) in April 2024, seeking directions to direct the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and the state Police Commission to take strict action against the sellers. IPL tickets at inflated prices on the black market. Black marketing or reselling of live event tickets at inflated prices is an offense under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) for petty crimes, Consumer Protection Act 2019 for unfair trade practices, and Act -Competition Act 2002 due to abuse of dominant position.
‘There is no legislative framework to prohibit ticket scalping and declare it illegal or illegal’
Senior lawyer Vivek Narayan Sharma added, “In India, there is no legislative framework to prohibit Ticket Scalping and declare it illegal or illegal. The act of ticket scalping can be controlled under certain provisions of the following Acts/Acts –
— BookMyShow Contract Policy – Under the Indian Contract Act 1872, the cause of action arose from the ticket selling agency BookMyShow. If BookMyShow stipulates the terms and conditions set out in the Ticket Sales Agreement, then ticket Scalping is not permitted. But if there are no rules or regulations or terms and conditions given, then no action can be taken. If the terms and conditions do not state that the ticket is non-transferable or does not print the price on the ticket and the buyer and the seller both know that the ticket is sold at price X even though it is bought at price Y, then there is something illegal per Indian Legal frame work.
— Essential Commodities Law – As per Essential Commodities Act, 1955 hoarding of essential goods is not allowed and is punishable. But since, Concert tickets are not considered essential commodities, therefore no legal recourse can be taken under this Act.
— Laws in other countries – There are certain laws in Countries like the UK that have provisions to control the resale of tickets at prices above the face value of the ticket. But these provisions are being bypassed by online platforms selling these tickets through websites like Viagogo, StubHub etc. which are now common in the Indian Market as well. There is a law in the UK about banning the use of automated bots for buying tickets in bulk, which has hardly resulted in the practice and the law does not apply in India.
buy Coldplay concert tickets became chaotic for fans this Sunday due to rampant scalping. After that, ticketing platform BookMyShow filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police to check scalping.
