India fines BBC – media

The British state broadcaster has violated foreign exchange regulations, the authorities have reportedly found.

British state broadcaster the BBC has been fined for foreign exchange violations by India’s financial crime fighting agency, the Hindustan Times reported on Saturday, citing sources.

The country’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) fined BBC World Service India £314,510 ($397,980) for the violation of the 1999 Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the paper wrote, citing an unnamed official.

Three BBC India directors — Giles Antony Hunt, Indu Shekhar Sinha, and Paul Michael Gibbons — have each been fined £104,836 ($132,400) “for their roles in overseeing company operations during the period of contravention,” the official added. An extra penalty of $57.6 for “every day after October 15, 2021, till the date of compliance,” has also been imposed.

The ED’s investigation was launched in April 2023 following tax raids on the broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai two months prior. The searches were based on suspicions of “deliberate non-compliance with the transfer pricing rules and vast diversion of profits”.

According to sources cited by local media, the investigation found that BBC World Service India maintained 100% foreign direct investment in its digital media operations, surpassing the 26% cap established by the government in 2019.

A statement from the British state broadcaster said “We will carefully review any order when it is received and consider next steps as appropriate,” insisting that it is committed to operating within the rules of all countries it is based in, according to Reuters.

The probe into the BBC’s finances was launched in February 2023, shortly after the broadcaster released a documentary examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the Gujarat riots during his tenure as the state’s chief minister. The Indian government had banned the documentary, calling it “propaganda” and accusing the BBC of bias.

In February 2002, the state of Gujarat experienced severe violence following the burning of a train coach in the Godhra municipality, which resulted in the deaths of 59 Hindu pilgrims. This incident ignited widespread riots across the state, leading to the loss of over 1,000 lives, and displacing thousands.

At the time, Narendra Modi served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. His administration faced allegations of complicity and insufficient action to prevent the atrocities. Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots, and was exonerated in 2012 following an inquiry overseen by the Supreme Court.