KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Communications and Digital Ministry will call up the organiser of British rock band Coldplay’s concert in order to understand their ticketing system and procedures.
This is following complaints by buyers over the difficulty in purchasing tickets due to scalpers buying in bulk, according to Bernama.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Friday (May 19) that the meeting will discuss measures to be taken by the organiser in order to ensure that the same issue does not recur.
“Among the things we may look into is the way tickets are bought (and) whether there should be restrictions or certain conditions imposed on the organisers.
“We are also looking at the existing legal provisions in case we need to take action,” Mr Fahmi was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Coldplay is set to hold its first concert in Malaysia on Nov 22 this year at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur as part of its Music Of The Spheres World Tour.
General tickets went on sale on Wednesday and local media reported that the tickets were sold out within hours, leaving many Malaysian fans upset as they were unable to purchase the ticket.
The concert organiser, Live Nation Malaysia, later cautioned the public on Twitter against purchasing tickets from “unauthorised sellers or third party websites such as Viagogo, Carousel, or other similar platforms.”
On Tuesday, the Malay Mail reported that the ticketing website crashed during the early round of ticket sales for CIMB bank cardholders, with users on social media speculating that the crash was due to the overwhelming number of presale buyers attempting to buy multiple tickets.
According to Bernama, there were accounts on various platforms reselling Coldplay concert tickets at exorbitant prices of up to RM43,200 (US$9,495). However, the accounts are reportedly said to be run by scammers.
Following this, Mr Fahmi told Bernama on Thursday that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will ask the operator of the platforms to take down the posting.
“If detected, we will bring (scammers) to court and if the (ticket sales) are still on the platform, appropriate action will be taken,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
“The resale of tickets is a bit excessive,” said Mr Fahmi who added that the issue will be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting.
The announcement of Coldplay’s first concert in Malaysia had earlier drawn the criticism of a political leader from the Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), who had called for the cancellation of the event.
This is not the first time that PAS has hit out at concerts performed by foreign artistes.
In March this year, Padang Terap Member of Parliament (MP) Nurul Amin Hamid told parliament that Korean girl group Blackpink’s concert was against the values of Malaysia’s Muslim-majority population.
He also urged the government to “control” the increasing number of concerts held by foreign artistes in the country.
Source : CNA
