Despite summons, Republic TV's CFO doesn't appear before police in fake TRP case

News Network

October 10, 2020

Mumbai, Oct 10: Despite summons, Republic TV's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) did not appear before the Mumbai police on Saturday to record his statement in connection with the TRP manipulation racket, saying the channel has approached the Supreme Court in the case, a senior official said.

Shiva Subramaniyam Sundaram, the channel's CFO, against whom summons had been issued on Friday, also requested the police not to record his statement saying the top court's hearing is scheduled within a week, the official said.

However, Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director of Madison World and Madison Communications appeared before the crime branch on Saturday to record his statement, he added.

The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai crime branch had issued summons against Sundaram and he had been asked to join the investigation at 11 am on Saturday.

"However, he did not appear before the probe team. He informed the police that the channel has approached the Supreme Court and that there will be a hearing on the matter within a week. Citing this, he requested the police not to record his statement," the official said.

The summons to Sundaram said there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is "acquainted with certain facts and circumstances of the matter and the same are required to be ascertained".

The CIU of the crime branch is investigating the fake Television Rating Points (TRP) racket case.

Besides him, the police had also summoned accountants of Marathi channels 'Fakt Marathi' and 'Box Cinema' and those of a couple of advertising agencies, he said.

On Thursday, the police had arrested four persons including owners of Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema in the case.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had claimed that three channels including Republic TV manipulated the TRP.

The racket came to light when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) an organization which measures TRP, filed a complaint in this regard through Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, the police said.

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IndiGo offers full waiver on cancellations, reschedule requests for bookings between Dec 5 and 15

News Network

December 6,2025

With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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