Coldplay Concert Chaos: Who Is Ashish Hemrajani? The BookMyShow CEO Summoned Over Allegations Of Black Market Ticket Sales

The excitement reached a peak for music lovers on September 22 as tickets for the highly and much anticipated British band concert Coldplay went live. The band is set to perform at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18 and 19, 2025, a long-awaited return to India nearly a decade after their last performance.

As the ticket for much-waited concert were about to go live, the BookMyShow app and website also crashed just a minute before the tickets were released, leaving many high and dry.

With thousands of fans of the concert eagerly waiting to secure their spots for what promises to be an unforgettable event for many, the situation has drawn significant attention as well as even controversy.

Recently, a Mumbai-based lawyer Amit Vyas has alleged BookMyShow of facilitating black market sales of these coveted tickets, leading to the summons of Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of Big Tree Entertainment, the parent company of BookMyShow.

The Man Behind the Ticketing Giant: Ashish Hemrajani

Ashish Hemrajani co-founded Big Tree Entertainment in 1999, which later gave rise to the popular online ticketing platform, BookMyShow.

About his career, he is a graduate of Mithibai College in Mumbai and also holds an MBA from Sydenham College of Economics and Commerce.

He started his early career at J. Walter Thompson, an American advertising agency.

Net Worth

According to a reports, he has a staggering net worth of Rs 3,000 crore.

Summons and Allegations

Following Vyas's complaint, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has summoned Hemrajani, along with Director Shamita Ghosh and Vice President Anil Makhija.

As per reports, the allegations center around claims that the online platform facilitated the black marketing of tickets.

Sanding Against Ticket Scalping

Amid this controversy, the company has taken steps to disavow any involvement in ticket scalping, a practice where tickets are bought in bulk to be resold at inflated prices. The company has reiterated that such activities are illegal in India and are subject to severe penalties.

BookMyShow has also filed a police complaint about the sale of counterfeit tickets on unauthorized websites, distancing itself from any platforms facilitating ticket resales, such as Gigsberg and Viagogo.