Police clueless on online black market of tickets for IPL matches

The Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets in black are now just a click away.

A number of websites have become the best platform for the black market.

But, the police seem to have no clue about it all. There is just one official website for the sale of tickets, but countless others resembling it.

“Just tell me where you want it delivered. Rest assured, you will be able to see the match tomorrow (RCB vs SRH on Sunday),” Nakul (name chan­g­e­­­d), who had posted an ad online told Deccan Herald.

Nak­ul, among the hundreds who have posted ads online, was selling tickets online at nearly do­u­ble the original prices.

Touts outsmart the police while buying the tickets.

One need not wait in front of the stadium for the black tickets. Name the stand where you want the ticket and the touts have it. Rangas­wa­my, who calls himself Ramesh on www.­iplt­ic­kets.net, offered this reporter tickets for ‘G’ stand.

“The actual price for the ticket is Rs 850, but I am selling it at Rs 1,250,” he said.

In a few cases it was only individuals, but in a few others, it was a group of people selling the tickets.

Rangaswamy said he was only answering phone calls, but had no clue where one had to collect the tickets.

“Another friend of mine has the details. I have only entered my number on the site,” he said. 

The sellers are firm on not offering any discount, but are ready to give as many tickets as one wants. Nakul, who was convinced that this reporter would buy five tickets, said that he would be able to offer a rebate of only Rs 100.

The  smart sellers are using other brand names to ensure that the websites accept the advertisements.

One of the advertisements for IPL tickets on the Quikr website was in the name of a motorcycle. The Bangalore Police, who have left no stone unturned to ensure security at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, said that they were unaware of the online sale.

“Nothing of this sort has come to our notice so far,” said a senior police official.