The Maharashtra Cyber Cell (MCC) has issued new directives to BookMyShow and Zomato about booking tickets for major events. This move comes after alleged black marketing of Coldplay’s concert tickets. Keep reading to know more about the new directives.
What Are The New Directives For Zomato, BookMyShow?
MCC has given directions to Zomato and BookMyShow to print the names of ticket buyers on the tickets. It has also directed the platforms to check government-mandated ID cards of individuals at the entry points, especially big-budget events like concerts. These directives are being rolled out to curb black marketing of tickets taking place commonly during such events.
Between 18th and 26th January, the famous British band Coldplay stepped foot in India for their ‘Music of the Spheres’ Tour. During the tour, there were many allegations of tickets being black marketed.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Cyber has directed BookMyShow and Zomato to print buyers’ names on tickets for major events to curb black marketing. Entry will require a government-issued ID. A white paper will outline legal and technical measures for ticket regulation
Maharashtra Cyber… pic.twitter.com/5NwNJXlkpI
— IANS (@ians_india) February 13, 2025
MCC Chief Yashasvi Yadav stated that they’ve noticed many people hoarding tickets on a large scale and then selling them at exorbitant prices, almost double or triple the original price. He quoted that “Individuals were buying 25-20 tickets for the purpose of black-marketing.”
Yadav said that the directives will apply to events and concerts where the supply of tickets fell shorter than the demand. Not just that, but MCC has also planned to issue a white paper in this matter. The white paper will be issued by taking inputs from operators and authorities of major ticketing platforms. The technical changes required for selling tickets and on the ticketing platforms will be mentioned in the white paper.
Will The Tickets Be Transferable?
However, the tickets for such events will not be transferable, meaning that the buyer cannot sell away their ticket to someone else in case they’re not able to attend the event. “In that case, the buyer will have to cancel the ticket and make a fresh booking. A refund will be issued as per the ticketing platform’s policy”, Yadav quoted. While this might prove to be inconvenient for some, the move is being implemented to curb down black marketing of tickets that happened on a large scale recently.
Summing Up
The move to print names on tickets will surely curb down black marketing of tickets at big-ticket events. Black marketing at exorbitant prices is not only unfair but also illegal, and these directives are a great solution to rising incidents of such illegal sale of tickets. What are your thoughts on this new move?
