On 10th January 2012, two persons were taken into custody by Delhi Police as they were caught red-handed while selling Auto Expo entry tickets in black. The two touts were apprehended from outside the expo venue, Pragati Maidan. In view of the unmanageable crowd that thronged the Auto Expo premises, the authorities were forced to halt the sales of tickets before the usual time. However, the enthusiasts were in no mood to miss the show and eventually went on to buy the tickets that were sold illegally at the entry gates of the Auto Expo 2012 venue.
“Two persons have been arrested, one of them is Lajpat Rai (48), a resident of Faridabad. We also seized nine tickets,” said K.C. Dwivedi, Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi). According to reports, a number of touts could be seen selling tickets at high profit margin and the cost was nowhere near the actual price tag carried by these tickets.
In order to ensure maximum visitors, the organisers set the price of entry tickets in a very reasonable way. The cost of tickets for visiting during business hours is Rs. 500, whereas that of general hours is Rs. 200 for weekends and Rs. 150 for weekdays. However, on 10th January 2012, the worth of tickets which were sold outside Pragati Maidan went up to Rs. 300 and Rs. 500.
The persons dealing in the illegal activity were reluctant to divulge exact details regarding the number of tickets that were sold to visitors since the commencement of the Auto Expo. However one of them confirmed that on an average, he managed to sell-off around 50 tickets in every 30 minutes. “I usually sell the tickets for Rs. 300 each, but sometimes the customers negotiate. I sell 50 tickets in 30 minutes on a given day,” he said, while striking a deal with an enthusiast.
Unofficial tickets sold in black were available outside both Pragati Maidan Metro stations and also at Gate No. 5, 2 and 1. “At Gate 5 tickets were sold out and gates 2 and 1 are really far. There is also so much traffic. So, we decided to buy the tickets in black. It’s Rs. 500 each and I bought two of them,” said Sumit, a visitor.
It must be noted that the ticket rates were comparatively low at Gate No. 1 and 2 as the official ticket selling counters were still open to the public. However, seeing the long queues, the visitors were compelled to buy high-priced tickets from touts.
Thus, curbing such activities must be on the top priority as overcrowding due to the sales of illegal tickets may threaten the lives of thousands of people visiting the Auto Expo.
