ED registers case under PMLA in TRP manipulation case

New Delhi, Nov 21: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case in connection with the Television Rating Points (TRP) case.

The ED's case is based on the Mumbai police's FIR that is being probed by a special investigation team (SIT). The SIT had alleged that Republic TV's distribution head had paid Rs 15 lakh per month for seven months to a fixer to boost the viewership of the channel.

The SIT had suspected that some hawala transactions had taken place between the executives of some channels and vendors to boost the viewership of their channels illegally.

The ED would look into these suspicious financial transactions.

It may be recalled that the CBI too had registered a case on a TRP racket in Uttar Pradesh.

ED officials confirmed to OneIndia that an ECIR has been registered and the probe has begun. The ED probe would cover all the channels named in the FIR. The senior executives of the channel would be summoned for questioning by the ED. The probe would be carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).