Mumbai: The Maharashtra government withdrew Wednesday the general consent it had given to the CBI for investigation in connection with the fake Television Rating Points (TRP) case. The CBI had registered an FIR in the case Tuesday on the basis of a reference from the Uttar Pradesh Police. The case, which was earlier registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on a complaint of an advertising company promoter, was handed over to the CBI by the Uttar Pradesh government. The primary allegations related to manipulation of TRPs on a payment.
The alleged scam came to light when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint with the police, alleging that certain channels were rigging TRP numbers to lure advertisers. It was alleged that some families at whose houses metres for collecting data of viewership were installed were being bribed to tune into a particular channel.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh held a press conference and accused Republic TV and three others of manipulating the TRPs.
The Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch arrested Tuesday two more people for allegedly fudging the TRPs, which took the number of arrests in the case to eight.
TRPs of a channel or programme are used to measure popularity of channels by advertising agencies which affect pricing.