TRP Fraud Exposed by Mumbai Police Will Question Arnab Goswami from Republic TV

TRP Fraud Charge Moved Against Republic TV

Friday, 9th October 2020

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, in a press conference on Thursday, said the city police is investigating a recent racket that is related to the manipulation of TRPs. Three channels have been associated with the scam- Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema, and Republic-TV, all of which, said Singh, have allegedly distorted the apparatus that is used to rate television channels, by the BARC.

Later on Thursday, BARC issued a statement that said they will continue to follow their set “vigilance and disciplinary guidelines” that they normally follow in cases of “suspected panel homes intrusions”. They said that BARC India is committed to its role of “accurately and faithfully” reporting ‘What India Watches’ and will thus give their complete support to Mumbai police in exposing the fraud.

As per Commissioner Singh, the city has more than 2,000 barometers installed that monitors TRPs. An agency called ‘Hansa’ has received a confidential contract to monitor these barometers. Those accused of the scam would have asked some viewers to keep the respective channels on even when nobody was watching, he said.

He also revealed that the police have made two arrests, both of whom have been produced in court and are now in custody. They have been arrested with Rs 20 lakh and Rs 8.5 lakh respectively stashed away.

They have also arrested the owners of the two Marathi channels, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema under sections 409 and 420 of IPC.

Singh said even Republic TV is a suspect in the fraud after receiving data of the households from BARC. They also suspect that this could be taking place in other parts of India as well, and not just in Maharashtra.

The entire investigation is being led by ACP Shashank of Crime Branch's CIU and supervised by DCP and JCP.

The complaint was initially brought to their notice by Hansa against some of their former employees who they suspected were embezzling data.

Representatives of Republic TV including editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami will soon be summoned for questioning, said the commissioner.

Findings of the investigation have also been shared with the I&B ministry.

Source: NDTV