TRP manipulation scam: ED probe puts Mumbai Police on the dock; chargesheet hints at wider conspiracy

synopsis

At a media briefing, Mumbai Police Joint CP Crime Milind Bharambe said that as per a July 2020 report received from rating agency BARC says the data manipulation had been going on from 2016 till 2019. 

"Data of up to 44 weeks was analysed in detail in the genre of English and Telugu news. Manipulation found to a great extent. Data mentions how viewership and TRP data was manipulated; how Times Now was shown on number 2 position and Republic TV was placed on number 1," Bharambe said.

The police officer also cited the BARC report to make more claims. These include:

* Report allegedly states that this manipulation continued till 2019. In some cases, ratings for some weeks seemed pre-decided. 

* Report allegedly shows cartelisation of some of the top ex-officials of BARC.

* Investigations have revealed that three methodologies used by BARC -- Outlier method, Meta rule and Channel audience control -- were manipulated to gain TRPs.

The Enforcement Directorate charge sheet into the Television Rating Point or TRP scam has pointed toward a wider conspiracy between certain channel owners, agents and relationship managers to influence panel households to watch certain channels for monetary gains. 

The charge sheet, submitted before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai, claims that the 'malaise seems to be long-running and deeper as indicated by the various FIRs lodged by rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in various states at different time periods. 

The ED, in its charge sheet, claims that the investigation done by Mumbai Police was at variance with the agency's investigation. To recall, the Mumbai Police had, on October 8, 2020, named Republic TV as being among the channels that were manipulating the TRP. The ED says that no evidence is forthcoming -- either by the statement or by digital data evidence -- to show that Republic TV was bribing or influencing panel households to watch their English and Hindi channels. 

On the contrary, the central agency claims that it came across certain leads indicating that certain households were watching News Nation and India Today channels in lieu of receiving cash amounts from relationship managers. These leads are being investigated, the agency said.

The ED also alleged that BARC had, in the past, reported that they had received several complaints regarding certain households that they are being paid money for watching Times Now channel and that the BARC vigilance team recorded videos of these households stating that they are being paid for watching Times Now channel. A showcause was also issued to Times Now in this regard. 'This indicates certain irregularities vis-a-vis Times Now, which needs to be properly investigated,' the ED charge sheet says.

Punching Holes in Mumbai Police chargsheet

The ED says that it recorded statements of 32 households were recorded who confirmed having received money for watching certain channels. 'Some of the statements were contrary to the statements given to Mumbai Police in as much as that they denied watching Republic TV or Republic Bharat,' the ED says.

The Mumbai Police alleged that an amount of Rs 13 lakh in cash was found at the house/ Locker of Abhishek Kolwade, who runs a marketing firm named Max Media. The Police alleged that he received the money from Republic TV. However, no corroboration of the same was found during the ED investigation.

The Mumbai Police had in its charge sheet claimed that Republic TV had manipulated the TRP by broadcasting on dual channels. However, the ED probe shows that even if a channel is placed on two/multiple Landing Channel Numbers, the watermarks would be the same, thus capturing only one viewing at a time. In short, even if a channel appears on two different channels on television, it does not 'infiltrate BARC panel home's viewership'

Damning indictment of Mumbai Police

While punching holes in the Mumbai Police investigation, the Enforcement Directorate claims that it appears that police investigators received illegal gratification. To note, a CBI investigation is already underway into the same.

The ED charge sheet says, 'Further a complaint dated 24.03.2021 received from BARC, that they were forced to pay a bribe of Rs 25 lakh to Sachin Vaze, API, Mumbai Police to escape from undue harassment in TRP case investigation. Further, an investigation in this regard was carried out, and it was found that the money was received by Police Inspector Santosh Kotwal, CIU of the Mumbai Police, in Airoli, Navi Mumbai. On being confronted, Kotwal admitted having received a bag allegedly containing papers related to the BARC investigation at a private place in Airoli, Navi Mumbai and stated that he had received the bag at the instructions of Sachin Vaze, API, Mumbai Police and handed over the same to Sachin Vaze in his cabin. BARC officials handing over the bag have averred that the bag contained cash of Rs 25 lakh. Further, it is highly improbable that papers relating to investigations will not be received in office but in a private place outside the jurisdiction of Mumbai Police.' 

Vaze, who is currently behind bars facing trial, had last year told ED that the former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh had wanted Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami arrested in the TRP rigging case.