India’s growing concert economy needs guardrails, lessons from Trump’s ticketing reforms

The section titled “Purpose”, which explained the rationale behind Trump’s Executive Order on live entertainment, stated: “America’s live concert and entertainment industry is the envy of the world. But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middlemen who sit at the intersection between artists and fans and impose egregious fees while providing minimal value.”

“Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets and then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favourite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses.”

The Executive Order noted that in some cases, people had paid up to 70 times the face value of a ticket. It added that when such situations occur, the profits “go solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency”.

While the actual impact of the live entertainment-related Executive Order in the United States remains to be seen, it is undeniable that bad actors seeking to exploit ticketing systems for personal gain is not a problem confined to the US alone.

Price gouging can occur anywhere—including India—unless authorities proactively establish robust systems and processes to prevent it.

It would therefore be ideal for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and consumer affairs authorities at both central and state levels to take inspiration from the US Executive Order and step up efforts to prevent ticket scalping.

The CCI and consumer affairs departments could require all ticketing platforms in India to disclose the processes they have implemented to prevent ticket scalping. These measures could then be reviewed by a panel comprising officials from the CCI, central and state consumer affairs departments, and technology experts, to determine whether the actions taken are adequate.

If the panel finds the proposed measures insufficient, platforms could be advised on necessary improvements, and the implementation of these recommendations could be closely monitored.

Admittedly, there could be cost implications for ticketing platforms if an audit reveals that their current systems are not robust enough to prevent scalping. However, in a business where customer trust is paramount to growth, platforms should not hesitate to invest in fortifying their systems against potential misuse.

Ultimately, given that India is the world’s most populous nation—with a population exhibiting widely varying levels of awareness regarding consumer rights—ticket scalpers are likely to believe they can operate without consequence.

It is thus imperative for the CCI and consumer affairs departments to take the lead in curbing unfair practices in the Indian live entertainment space. Only through their active intervention can ordinary Indians be protected from being exploited by scalpers and middlemen seeking to make a quick profit.

(Sumali Moitra is a current affairs commentator. X: @sumalimoitra.)

Views are personal, and do not represent the stance of this publication.