{Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati Tour} Delhi HC issues notice on PIL against ‘ticket scalping’
The term “ticket scalping” refers to the practice of buying in bulk event tickets that are in high demand and then reselling them at inflated prices to make a profit at the cost of the general public.
New Delhi
The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued notice in a plea seeking the formulation of a committee to investigate the “ticket scalping” that allegedly occurred in the sale of passes for the upcoming “Dil-Luminati Tour” starring Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh, scheduled for October 26 in Delhi.
The plea also asked court to direct authorities to frame guidelines to curb “ticket scalping”.
The term “ticket scalping” refers to the practice of buying in bulk event tickets that are in high demand and then reselling them at inflated prices to make a profit at the cost of the general public.
The practice has come into concern after tickets to in-demand concerts and events such as the Diljit Dosanjh tour and British band Coldplay’s tour of India were “sold out” within minutes of being put on sale, much to the dismay of fans. The tickets, however, were put on sale by various unofficial ticketing platforms at exorbitant prices.
A bench of chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought the responses of the Centre, Delhi government’s department of trade and taxes, and Zomato, while fixing February 18 as the next date of hearing.
The plea filed through Rohan Gupta, who provides photography and videography services at events, expressed that ticketing platforms such as StubHub, Viagogo and Ticombo, were reselling tickets to Diljeet’s concert at exorbitant prices and arbitrarily restricting the access of the public at such events despite not being official ticketing partners.
It also alleged that the booking platform Zomato, by releasing the tickets in different phases and then labelling them as “sold” created artificial scarcity and given rise to unprecedented demand. It pointed out that though tickets were “sold out” on Zomato, they were soon easily available on reselling websites such as StubHub, Viagogo and Ticombo.
“Respondents (Zomato, StubHub, Viagogo and Ticombo) have indulged in unfair prices with relation to hoarding of tickets to artificially drive their prices up and force the consumers to pay a higher price for the same ticket, thereby illegally profiting from the reselling,” the plea stated.
Seeking establishment of a legal framework to govern the practice of ticket scalping, the plea argued by advocate Daksh Gupta went on to add that the practice has also had a detrimental effect on the government’s revenue as the transactions were occurring through informal or unregulated channels, with the revenue escaping the official tax system.
“This untracked, untaxed income contributes to the growth of a shadow economy, depriving the state of funds that could otherwise support public services, infrastructure or community development,” it stated.
During the hearing, Gupta’s counsel Jatin Yadav and Gaurav Dua, submitted that pursuant to StubHub, Viagogo and Ticombo selling thousands of tickets at exorbitant prices, Zomato issued a clarification on September 16, declaring that tickets purchased through these platforms were “invalid”.
To be sure, Zomato a blog post said, “Please note that Zomato Live is the official ticketing partner for Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-luminati Tour in India which is accessible only through Zomato app, or at https://www.zomato.com/live and the tickets issued are in physical form only,” the advisory stated.
It added, “The tickets purchased from any other third-party direct selling or reselling platforms such as Viagogo, Ticombo, StubHub, and other unofficial sources will be considered invalid, and individuals holding these tickets will be denied entry to the event.”
Delhi government’s counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi, however, objected to the prayer regarding the framing of guidelines by stating that the issue is covered under section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. The said provision provides punishment for petty organised crime, including theft, cheating, snatching, unauthorised sale of tickets, unauthorised betting or gambling, and public examination question papers.
The court issued notice and fixed February 18 as the next date of hearing.
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