India fines BBC for alleged foreign exchange violations, sources say – World

India’s financial crime-fighting agency has fined British broadcaster BBC £314,510 ($397,980) for alleged foreign exchange violations in the South Asian nation, three government sources told Reuters.

The agency, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), opened an investigation into the BBC in April 2023 under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, two months after tax authorities searched the broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

The ED conducts investigations into suspected contraventions of India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act and can “adjudicate and impose penalties” on those found guilty, according to its website.

The BBC, which launched a new company for Indian language services in December 2023, was issued a show-cause notice earlier that year for failing to reduce foreign ownership in the company to the permitted limit of 26 per cent, the sources said.

As a result, the broadcaster has been fined £314,510, along with a fine for every day since October 15, 2021, for violations. Additionally, three directors of the company have each been fined £104,836 for their roles in overseeing operations during the period of contravention, the sources added.

The BBC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The tax raids in February 2023 followed the release of a BBC documentary about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership of the state of Gujarat during riots in 2002. At least 1,000 people were killed in the riots, most of them Muslims.

The Indian government had in 2023 dismissed the documentary as “propaganda”, blocked its airing and also barred the sharing of any clips via social media in the country.

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.