TRP scam: Households are paid Rs 500 to watch particular channels

The Crime Intelligence Unit CIU of the Mumbai police on Thursday claimed to have busted a mega Television Rating Points TRP scam and arrested four people including two people who own local TV channels It has been alleged that households were paid by certain TV channels to watch their channels to increase ratings and advertisementsMumbais Commissioner of Police CP Param Bir Singh said details pertaining to Republic TV channel also surfaced pointing to the channel and its editorinchief Arnab Goswamis involvement which is being investigated The arrested accused are Vishal Bhandari 20 a former relationship manager of Hansa Research Group that tracks TRPs Sanju Rao 45 Shirish Shetty 44 the owner of Fakt Marathi TV channel and Narayan Sharma 47 owner of Box CinemaAccording to API Sachin Vaze of CIU Bhandari was questioned about paying households to watch particular channels based on a tipoffHe said he worked for a company called Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd which is part of Broadcast Audience Research Council BARC as a relationship manager an officer privy to the investigation said Bhandari had resigned from Hansa Research Group in June over such allegations The company has now filed an FIR under sections related to cheating breach of trust and criminal conspiracy BARC on the other hand submitted suspicious data analysis of certain channels including Republic TVs BARC also told police that an internal enquiry of theirs found Republic TVs trends suspiciousThe modus operandiBARC had contracted Hansa Research Group to place around 2000 barometers in Mumbai and Bhandari had access to this information After leaving Hansa Research Group he started working for Rao Rao was in touch with TV channels and had information of around 100 households with barometers He would be paid by channels and Bhandari would pay the households to watch them the officer said The barometers of 100 households were verified and at least 10 were suspicious the officer addedHouseholds are paid Rs 500 to watch particular channels There is strong evidence against Republic TV suggesting that they too use such tactics to manipulate TV ratings We will summon concerned individuals of Republic World to record statements said CP SinghMumbai police have also recorded statements of people paid to watch channels We were approached by Bhandari and another person asking us to watch Republic TV promising to pay R500 every month one statement readThere are people who dont even know English but were watching Republics English news channel for money Singh said Manipulated TRP ratings result in losses of hundreds of crores Money earned through such tactics will be treated as proceeds of crime he addedMumbai police have found WhatsApp chats some electronic evidence and a rate card with Bhandari who named the channel in his statement The police have written to the vigilance officer of BARC asking for specific details related to Republic TV and to a private bank seeking the details of the channel and its associated companies bank accountsIn a statement BARC said BARC India appreciates the efforts of the Mumbai Police and will provide the support asked of it Praveen Nijhara CEO Hansa Research said in a statement Hansa Research and BARC conducted an investigation into the matter over the last few weeks the conclusion of which resulted in Hansa Research filing an FIR against an exemployee who was engaged in some wrongdoingAlso ReadRepublic TV 2 other channels being probed for TRP manipulation Mumbai policeGoswami on the other hand said in a statement Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh has made false allegations against Republic TV because we questioned him in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation Republic TV will file a criminal defamation case against SinghWhat is BARCBARC functions under the governance of Ministry of Information amp Broadcasting MIB and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI It has installed approximately 30000 barometers in various parts of India which monitor various programmes based on the statistical metrics of which it awards ratings to TV channels Advertising revenue is decided based on these ratingsKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news