Gap in law allowed ‘ticket scalping’, say lawyers

• ‘Ticket scalping’ is an illegal practice where tickets for concerts and similar events are resold at inflated prices.
• The issue gained attention after concerns about ticketing scams clouded the highly anticipated Coldplay concert in Mumbai and singer Diljit Dosanjh’s show in Delhi.
• After tickets were sold out within six minutes of being put out by the official vendor, Zomato Live, the tickets are now offered for resale on several third-party platforms.
• Two public interest litigation (PIL) pleas were filed before the Delhi High Court, accusing resellers of exploiting high demand and pushing fans to purchase tickets at exorbitant prices.
• The High Court asked the Centre to respond to one of the petitions seeking a framework to regulate the resale of concert tickets through authorised platforms and avoid illegal selling activities.
• Advocate Jatin Yadav suggests advanced technological measures, such as restricting the use of bots for bulk ticket purchases, ensuring identity verification during transactions, and imposing penalties on unauthorised sellers to check the practice of ticket scalping.