New Delhi: Three channels including Republic TV are being investigated for manipulating TRP ratings, Mumbai police said Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said two people have been arrested and they will be in police custody till 9 October.
The channel heads of the Marathi channels — Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema — have also been arrested under sections 409 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Singh informed.
He also said that the investigation is underway and the owners, directors of all the channels will be questioned, including Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami.
Singh claimed that a former employee and few current employees of Hansa, a research organisation, were also involved in this alleged scam related to BARC weekly TRPs.
Bank accounts to be probed
“If there is a small manipulation in TRPs, it affects hundreds of crores in revenues and advertisers. Some gain from it and some undergo loss,” Singh said, adding that the bank accounts of the channels will also be investigated.
“The arrested accused and their accomplices would go to the households and pay them money on a per month basis to keep certain channels running in their house. We have seized Rs 20 lakh from bank accounts of one of the accused, who has been arrested and Rs 8.5 lakh in cash funding. His bank locker has also been seized,” Singh said.
“Households whose data was being manipulated were asked to keep the particular channels on whether they watch it or not. We have also seen that in the houses of people who are illiterate, English channels kept running. This will be considered proceeds of cheating,” Singh said.
‘False accusations’, says Republic TV
Republic TV has issued a statement accusing the Mumbai Police chief of making “false accusations”. The channel said it will file a criminal defamation case against the city police.
“There is not a single BARC report that mentions Republic TV,” the statement said. “Param Bir Singh stands completely exposed today, since BARC hasn’t mentioned Republic in any single complaint.”
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