Enforcement Directorate Files Case Against BBC India For Foreign Exchange Violations: Report

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a FEMA case against BBC India for foreign exchange violations, according to official sources cited by news agency PTI.

The federal probe agency has reportedly also sought documents and recordings of statements of several executives of the company under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

According to the sources cited in the report, the probe agency is essentially looking at purported Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) violations by the company.

The move follows Income Tax department conducting surveys on the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai in February this year.

The I-T department, had then said the income and profits shown by various BBC group entities were "not commensurate" with the scale of their operations in India and tax has not been paid on certain remittances by its foreign entities.

"Further, the survey has also thrown up several discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to Transfer Pricing documentation," the I-T department had said, adding that such discrepancies relate to level of relevant Function, Asset and Risk (FAR) analysis, incorrect use of comparables which are applicable to determine the correct Arms Length Price (ALP) and inadequate revenue apportionment, among others.