Arrest of three selling IPL tickets in black market exposes murky distribution

New Delhi: The arrest of three persons by Delhi Police for unauthorised selling of IPL passes and also tickets at exaggerated prices in Delhi has created ripples within the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). The blame-game has started and there is no end to finger pointing.

At the moment, neither any DDCA official or office-bearer nor any Delhi Capitals official can be blamed outright, and both can be put in the dock. But it throws a light on the poor ticket and pass distribution system.

Your favourite website www.thedelhijunction.com is aware that the Delhi Capitals issues 6,000 complimentary passes to the DDCA. Out of these 6,000 'not for sale' passes, 3,800 go to members and 2,200 go to members of the Apex Council.

On an average, each director gets 54 passes -- about four for marquee which is Hill A, six each for Old Club House and Hill B, two each for Bay Area and Corporate Box and four for general stand through Gate No. 17. The remaining 30-34 passes for general stands that can be entered through Gates 10 to 13. The numbers may vary slightly according to stature and needs of directors. After the directors' cut, the top bosses distribute the remaining number among themselves and oblige accordingly.

Most of the general passes given to Apex Council members go to members. Since members get just one, an additional one from the Apex Council members to their voters get them a couple of seats in the same stand. It becomes a pair. In fact, most of the passes have been purposely kept for seats from Gates 10-13 as the members' solo passes are also for those seats.

The Delhi Police statement claims, "during interrogation, it was revealed that the accused used to sell complimentary passes for approximately ₹20,000/- each and regular tickets at nearly double their printed price. The rates were fixed according to the demand, profile, and popularity of the match."

It is highly unlikely these individuals would be selling passes for marquee area (Hill A) or the bay area or corporate boxes since those are priced more than Rs 20,000. The ones they may have been selling for Rs 20,000 would be either the Hill B -- from Gate No. 3 -- or Old Club House -- Gate No. 6. These two are priced at Rs 10,000 and Rs 11,000 respectively. However, it is also possible that since the marquee/corporate/bay area passes are anyway complimentary and free, Rs 20,000 would have also not been a loss.

The investigation will likely seek to trace the passes seized from the accused through the folio number printed on it and determine the name of the people these were originally allotted to. However, the investigators could be in for a surprise because the DDCA does not keep a record of the folio numbers of the passes allotted to individuals. The general process is to just hand over a bunch in an informal manner.

Unless the Delhi Capitals hand over the folio numbers of the passes it has distributed to various parties, including DDCA and authorities, to the investigators, it will be tough to blame DDCA for this corruption. It is unlikely that the three individuals arrested were resourceful enough to get multiple passes for their own consumption at a time when members and several other well-connected individuals are struggling to get even one complimentary pass.

Tags : Cricket, IPL, tickets, Indian Premier League, complimentary passes, black market