The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case under the Money Laundering Prevention Law in the case of manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRP).
ED’s case is based on the Mumbai Police FIR which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) from the Mumbai Crimes Section. SIT officials previously claimed that Republic TV’s head of distribution paid 15 lakhs a month for seven months to a fixer to increase the channel’s audience.
SIT officials also suspected that some Hawala transactions were carried out between executives of some channels and providers to increase the audience of their channels illegally. The DE can investigate these suspicious financial transactions.
ED is the second central agency to become involved in a PRT-related case. Interestingly, shortly after the Mumbai police launched their investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation recorded a case involving a TRP scam in Uttar Pradesh.
A senior Emergency Department official confirmed to HT that an EICR had been registered in the TRP tampering matter and that the investigation had begun. HT learns that the probe will cover all channels named in the original FIR and not just Republic TV. ED officials said that senior executives from all of these channels will be summoned for questioning by ED officials.
Mumbai police had started an investigation into the matter after the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) rating agency filed a complaint through the Hansa Research Group. In October, while sharing details of the preliminary investigation findings, Mumbai police claimed that TRP’s ratings, which decide who will get the most ads, were being manipulated by three channels, two regional channels, and Republic TV.
Subsequently, 12 people were arrested by the SIT in connection with the manipulation.
Republic TV has denied any wrongdoing.
The SIT also arrested Republic TV head of distribution, Ghanshyam Dilipkumar Singh, from his residence in Thane. Singh allegedly paid 15 thousand rupees a month for seven months to a provider to increase his channel’s audience, the criminal branch claimed in the preventive copy filed with the court. The police also claimed that hawala channels were also used for these transactions.
“The relentless attack on the Republic Media network continues; The head of distribution of the Republic, AVP Ghanshyam Singh, arrested by the criminal branch; Ghanshyam had been cooperating in the investigation of the Mumbai police bogus TRP case, ”the channel said.
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