JOIN USBlack marketeers have a field day!
With the Royal Challengers Bangalore winning four matches in a row, the demand for IPL tickets has shot up drastically. The queues around Chinnaswamy Stadium keep getting longer and the crowd around the ticket counters have many black marketers selling tickets of all ranges at a much higher price.
Many people standing near Stand No.12 to buy tickets for the match between Chennai Super Kings and RCB found that the tickets had been sold two days ago itself. But the surprising fact was that the tickets were available with the men hanging out near the counter throughout the day. A tout approached this reporter to sell a Rs 550 ticket at Rs 700. “As the day progresses, the prices will increase, so buy it now,” he advised.
On probing further, he revealed that he had tickets of all denominations for most of the matches. He was selling Rs 700 ticket for Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,500 ticket at Rs 1,700.
“The prices vary and we don’t sell all of them on one day. We save some for the day of the match when people are ready to pay up to Rs 2,000,” he added. The gatekeeper at the stadium said, “All the tickets seem to have been sold out but I only hope it’s a packed house on the match day.”
Even some youngsters were seen resorting to the same tactic, but they cited different reasons for it. Monisha, a student, was selling Rs 550 ticket at Rs 1,000, a day before the match. “I had blocked ten tickets worth Rs 550 online, assuming my friends were coming. But now some of them have backed out, so I’m selling them. Since the demand is high, why not make some extra buck as well,” she tried to reason. Many in the KSCA say that there is nothing they can do about the black marketeers. “People buy in bulk and we can’t question them about what they are going to do with it,” said one of the volunteers of the KSCA at the stands.