BBC Alleged To Diversify Tax Profits in 2023: The Not So “Democratic” Reiteration By The Democratic Modi Government

The Income Tax authorities have conducted a survey of the BBC premises in New Delhi about the company’s deliberate noncompliance with the transfer pricing rules and the diversion of its profits. The defaults have been stated by the sources.

The IT survey is routinely conducted and is no part of a raid or search according to the Income Tax Act.
The survey has highlighted non-compliance with the rules. BBC has continuously defied the rules and has diverted its profits. The main focus of the IT survey was to search for the manipulation of prices for unauthorized benefits that include advantages of taxes. The surveys have been conducted because BBC didn’t comply with the rules and regulations, making it a repeated offender.

It has been alleged that BBC has been noncompliant with the transfer pricing rules. Sources have stated that BBC has persistently and intentionally violated the transfer pricing policy and diverted the profits. Furthermore, the company has not defied the regulations for allocating profits.

BBC has mentioned that it is cooperating with the survey.

The firm has been accused of siphoning the money abroad with charges levied on the group. BBC has received multiple notices but has not abided by the norms.

The IT tax raid came into notice after BBC published a documentary on the Gujarat riots in 2002 named India: the Modi Question.

Narendra Modi has condemned the documentary series as hostile propaganda against the BJP-led government and invoked the emergency powers of the IT Rules of 2021 to ban the sharing of links or clips related to the topic.

The Editors Guild of India has taken a stand in the matter and condemned the harassment of state agencies by media companies.

‘BBC noncompliant with the transfer pricing rules: was the IT survey conducted as Modi’s revenge on the media agency?

The opposition has seen the IT survey as a means of punishing the BBC for broadcasting the documentary. A spokesperson of Congress has stated that the Indian government was hounding the BBC. Samajwadi leader Akhilesh Yadav has mentioned that the government was oppressing the media agency.

The action of the ruling party has strictly correlated the survey as a punishment for revealing the ugly truth under the Modi government. The journalists were sent a lengthy note of all the charges and acquisitions against the BBC, and the media was asked to comply with the charges.

Secondly, the BBC spokespersons started condemning the media agency as the most corrupt firm in the world. The bhakts have taken to the internet, condemning them as a colonial mindset and nothing more. BBC has no respect for truth.

Modi government has followed the same trends of masking any media agency with the charges of financial proprietary when it finds anything hostile apart from reporting the validity of the content.
The cynical truth is that the actions taken by the government are enough to silence the media organizations or may force them to tread out their onions carefully.

The government has always cowed down the action of domestic media organizations that it has started to believe that it will work for the international organization. The action can be, however, concluded as the retaliation of the BJP government.

The government has reported the BBC of charges with the diversification of the tax profits as declared by the ‘sources’. It indicates that there is not much information about the tax invasion by the BBC. The government had previously stated that ‘ BBC is the most corrupt institution in the world’ long before the survey was conducted, making the situation of tax evasion a fishy affair.

No government has been successful in silencing a global media firm. The raid by the IT survey has brought to notice that there is something suspicious of the government, and they do not want it to be reported.

The New York Times Editorial Board has condemned the government’s action stating that the actions to suppress the freedom of the press do not seem democratic of the Indian government.

The government has specifically mentioned that it is an IT survey and not a raid because the operation has been conducted on the business premises. The surveys even necessitate the sealing of the entry and points of exit and prohibit the use of mobile phones. It is considered a regular protocol.

But, how far is the survey a routine check and not a reiteration in response to the harsh truth by the reputed global news agency?

Edited by Prakriti Arora