Income Tax 'Survey' at BBC's Mumbai, Delhi Offices Ends After Nearly 60 Hours

The Income Tax ‘survey’ at BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices ended after three days on Thursday night, clocking nearly 60 hours in total. During the ‘survey’, I-T sleuths prepared an inventory of financial data from select staffers, besides collecting digital and paper data.

The ‘survey’ — which was carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies — began at the company’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai at around 11:30 am on Tuesday.

Tax authorities have made an inventory of the available stock, recorded the statement of some staffers and impounded some documents, officials told PTI.

The I-T department also made copies of electronic and paper data of the news organisation. It is also believed that the I-T sleuths sought answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about BBC.

So far, there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the ‘survey’.

The BBC press team released a statement on Thursday late evening, confirming that the I-T officers have left their office premises in Delhi and Mumbai. It added that they would continue to cooperate with the authorities and hoped that the matters are resolved as soon as possible.

“We are supporting staff — some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight — and their welfare is our priority. Our output is back to normal and we remain committed to serving our audiences in India and abroad,” the statement said.

BBC was always on the I-T radar

News18 reported on February 14 that BBC had been on the I-T radar for a long time over violation of the transfer pricing clause.

I-T sleuths had revealed that the clause of transfer pricing is invoked when the department finds that a particular organisation is billing less to the parent organisation compared to the market pricing and at the same time, the associated organisation is not “keeping an arm’s length”.

On the issue of transfer pricing, BBC India has received various notices from the I-T department in the past, however, the organisation remained, said the sleuths.

BBC India, which operates on behalf of BBC London, produces television software and other news material on behalf of the parent company.

‘Venomous Reporting’: BJP

On Tuesday, the ruling BJP had accused the BBC of “venomous reporting”, while the Opposition had questioned the timing of the action that came weeks after the UK’s national broadcaster aired a two-part documentary — “India: The Modi Question” — on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Supreme Court had last week junked a plea that sought a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary. The top court had termed the petition “entirely misconceived” and “absolutely meritless”.

Another set of petitions challenging the government’s decision to block the documentary’s access on social media platforms will be heard in April.  On January 21, the government issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

Meanwhile, the Indian Youth Congress has knocked the Supreme Court challenging ban on the airing of the BBC documentary. The plea has been filed by IYC member Mukesh Kumar through the legal cell of IYC

The petition also raises the issue of independence and security of the press and the larger media.

(With PTI inputs)

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