During singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati concert in Delhi in October, foul play left many of his fans deeply disappointed, with some paying huge sums to buy fake tickets and others becoming victims of scalpers.

Dosanjh addressed the issue at his Jaipur concert a few days later and apologized to his fans. “If anyone has been affected by the ticketing scam, I apologise. We are not responsible for this. Officials are investigating the matter. Our tickets sold out so fast, we didn’t even realize,” he said.

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When we reached out to Zomato Live, the official ticketing partner of Dosanjh’s show, a spokesperson for the platform told us, “Our endeavor is to always be a ‘fan first’ platform and ensure a fair and equitable experience for all.” “We have taken legal action against fraudulent websites and individuals who are copying our platform and selling non-existent tickets. Additionally, we are working closely with the authorities to shut down these illegal operations. We will continue to take legal action against any entities involved in ticket snatching activities.

Additionally, the spokesperson urged fans to “avoid purchasing tickets from third-party resale platforms.”

This scam is a problem not only for artists and ticketing platforms but also for concert organizers. Deepak Chaudhary, founder and managing director of EVA Live, which is bringing Bryan Adams back to India in December, says as it is difficult to immediately control the resale of tickets at inflated prices, he implemented several measures to tackle fraudulent activities Are.

“We have started sending physical tickets to users at their home addresses. Another measure we take as organizers is to limit the number of tickets a user can purchase in a single transaction. For Bryan Adams, we have limited it to no more than four tickets per transaction. So that helps to a certain level,” explains Chaudhary.

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Music producer and singer Salim Merchant, who has performed at several music festivals, recalls his experience of being a victim of fraud while purchasing tickets for a Taylor Swift concert in the UK. He shared, “I went to see Taylor Swift in the UK and I bought really expensive tickets from a third-party website. It was not a fake website but the tickets were fake,” he says, “These are reselling websites which is really ridiculous, all governments should ban this.”

He adds, “The worst thing is that you cannot tell whether the tickets are fake or genuine. The tickets allowed me to go to the concert but the seats were completely isolated. I bought tickets for £1500 ( 1.63 lakhs approx) but was settled at £100-pounds ( 10,000 approx) row, which was literally behind the stage. It was a crazy fiasco.”

Do these scandals affect the artist-fan relationship? Singer Aditi Singh Sharma, famous for hit songs like Aali Re, Main Heroine Hoon and Suraj Dooba Hai, says that she feels it is not so. “I’m not sure if the relationship between fans and artists is affected because it’s not really the artist’s fault, but I definitely think fans get very frustrated. But this will not make them lose their love for the artist. This is what I believe and this is what I hope.”

“When you’re doing multiple tours, it’s impossible for us artists to attend every ticket sale or event,” she concludes.