At the gate
Numbered wristbands: counting the gate against the cash
Published 2 min read Paper Bands by Adalwin
Print a sequential number on every band and give each gate a known range. At closing, the next unused number minus the first number tells you how many bands that gate issued. Check it against tickets scanned and money taken; a gap shows which gate, and which hour, to look at next time.
How the count works
- Before opening, write down the range each gate gets: gate A from 000001 to 002000, gate B from 002001 to 004000.
- Staff issue bands in order, from the top of the pack, never from the middle.
- A band torn while fastening goes in an envelope marked spoiled, not in the bin.
- At closing, each gate writes down its next unused number.
Bands issued = next unused number − first number − spoiled bands
Then set that against what the gate took.
| Gate | Bands issued | Tickets scanned | Paid at the gate | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1,840 | 1,512 | 328 | 0 |
| B | 1,910 | 1,604 | 271 | 35 |
An example. Gate B let in 35 people who neither showed a ticket nor paid.
What a gap usually means
- Free entries nobody wrote down: staff guests, performers’ friends, a sponsor’s table.
- Bands handed out without a ticket being scanned.
- Spoiled bands thrown away instead of kept.
- Cash taken and not rung up.
The number does not tell you which of these it was. It tells you where to ask, and a team that knows the count happens every night gives you fewer gaps to ask about.
Counting also tells you how many people are inside. India’s crowd management guide asks organisers for an effective way of counting visitors at the points they pass through, and lists overselling past a venue’s holding capacity among the causes of crowd disasters. Numbered bands give you that count by gate and by hour.
Ordering numbered bands
Numbering is printed on orders from 5,000 bands. It adds up to ₹0.28 a band before GST, and takes 2 to 3 working days more to print.
Tell us the number to start from. If this order follows an earlier one, send the last number you used, and check the first and last numbers of every run on the proof.
A QR code can carry the same number for scanning at the gate. See QR code wristbands.
Questions
Do numbered wristbands cost more?
Yes. Numbering adds up to ₹0.28 a band before GST.
Where does the number go on the band?
On the printed face, which is the full length of the band or a centre panel, front only. Keep it large enough to read at arm’s length.
Do numbers stop wristband fraud?
They make it visible. A number outside tonight’s range, or two guests with the same number, tells the door something is wrong. See how to stop wristband fraud.
Sources
- National Disaster Management Authority, copy hosted by Goa State Disaster Management Authority, Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering (2014), sections 2.2.3 and 3.2.1
Outside sources checked on 14 October 2026.