TRP scam: Former BARC CEO remanded to police custody till December 28

MUMBAI: The Esplanade magistrate court in Mumbai has remanded former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), Partho Dasgupta, to police custody till December 28 in connection with alleged rigging of Television Rating Points (TRP) by some TV channels.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch had arrested Partho Dasgupta on Thursday from Pune in connection with the fake TRP scam. He was arrested by Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) from the jurisdiction of Rajgad Police Station in Pune district and produced before the Esplanade magistrate court on Friday.

Partho Dasgupta, the accused, is the fifteenth person to be arrested in the case related to the alleged rigging of Television Rating Points (TRP) by some TV channels.

Earlier, the CIU had arrested the former chief operating officer (COO) of BARC Ramil Ramgarhia in the case, among others. On December 13, Mumbai Police had arrested Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani in connection with the alleged 'fake TRP scam' case.

Mumbai Police began the probe after the BARC, a rating agency, filed a complaint about the alleged rigging of TRP by some TV channels. TRP, measured by recording viewership data at sample households, is crucial as it helps TV channels attract advertisers. It was alleged that some of these households were being bribed to tune into certain channels to ramp up their TRP. 

The Centre last month constituted a four-member committee, headed by Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S Vempati, to review the guidelines on television rating agencies in India, in the wake an alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) scam. The government directed the panel to submit its report to the Information and Broadcasting minister within two months.