TWO YEARS after registering a case in opposition to British Broadcasting Firm (BBC) India underneath the Overseas Trade Administration Act (FEMA) for alleged international change violations, the Enforcement Directorate Friday issued an adjudication order, levying a penalty of Rs 3.44 crore on the broadcaster. The company has additionally imposed a superb of Rs 1.14 crore every on three BBC administrators.
The ED lodged the case following Earnings-Tax Division surveys on the BBC premises in New Delhi and Mumbai in February 2023 for alleged “non-compliance” with switch pricing guidelines and diversion of income.
A BBC spokesperson mentioned, “The BBC is dedicated to working throughout the guidelines of all international locations we’re primarily based in, together with India. At this stage, neither BBC World Service India nor its administrators have acquired any Adjudication Order from the Enforcement Directorate.”
“We’ll rigorously evaluate any order when it’s acquired and think about subsequent steps as acceptable,” the spokesperson mentioned.
On the penalties imposed by the ED, an official mentioned, “Aside from levying a penalty of Rs 3,44,48,850 on BBC WS India, a superb of Rs 5,000 for every day has been imposed from October 15, 2021 until the date of compliance. Additionally, three administrators — Giles Antony Hunt, Indu Shekhar Sinha and Paul Michael Gibbons — have every been fined Rs 1,14,82,950 for his or her roles in overseeing firm operations throughout the interval of contravention.”
“The adjudication proceedings had been initiated after a showcause discover was issued on August 4, 2023 to BBC WS India, its three administrators, and the finance head, for the contraventions,” the official mentioned.
On the alleged violations, the official mentioned, “On September 18, 2019, DPIIT issued a press be aware, stipulating a 26 per cent FDI cap for digital media underneath the federal government approval route. Nonetheless, BBC WS India, which is a 100 per cent FDI firm engaged in importing/streaming information and present affairs by way of digital media, didn’t scale back their FDI to 26 per cent, and stored it at 100 per cent in gross violation of rules issued by the federal government.”
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The tax division’s motion got here after the British broadcaster on January 17, 2023, launched a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled “India: The Modi Query”. On January 20, the Centre ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down hyperlinks sharing the documentary, with officers saying it was discovered to be “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India”.
After three days of surveys in February 2023, the I-T Division had mentioned that it had discovered “a number of discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to switch pricing documentation”. It additionally mentioned the revenue and income proven by numerous BBC group entities are “not commensurate with the dimensions of operations” in India.
