In Part 1 of this two part interview series, Ashish Hemrajani, Founder of online ticketing site BookMyShow spoke with us about. In Part two, he talks about the impact of regulation on his business, how open is BookMyShow for a DIY platform for small event organizers, on the offline component of the online business and building the ticketing ecosystem, cancellation of tickets, ticket pricing, why he raised VC funding, and his views on potential competition from Ticketmaster in India. MediaNama: What's the impact of regulation on you? You've had that situation in Andhra Pradesh, and now a case in Mumbai. Hemrajani: Sometimes, decisions are taken by the government either politically, or out of ignorance. Can you imagine regulating the MakeMyTrip's and Cleartrip's? Can you imagine going to IATA and printing booklets of tickets? In Indian Airlines and Air India, you had to go and get a token number for tickets. Can you imagine going back to those days? The fact is that this is unstoppable. We have got a favorable verdict in Andhra Pradesh. We won that case in the High Court. We have started our services. In Maharashtra, it is subjudice. We pay service tax to the government. We don't provide entertainment. It's an optional service - you can go to the Box Office to buy a ticket. My pricing for the customer is transparent, and I'm paying the government for it. Under any stretch of the imagination, it cannot be incorrect. 8-9 years ago when I went to the…
