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India’s TV viewership measuring company BARC India has set up an independent disciplinary council to further strengthen transparency and credibility of its measurement system.
The six-member BARC India Disciplinary Council will investigate and address complaints relating to viewership malpractices and tampering of its measurement system.
The Council will be headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, with D Shivanandan, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Director-General of Police, Maharashtra, and Paritosh Joshi, Independent Technical Expert, as members.
Representing the three stakeholder bodies — IBF, AAAI and ISA — will be Sujeet Jain, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Viacom18; CVL Srinivas, CEO South Asia, GroupM, and Pankaj Phadnis, AVP Corporate Legal, GCPL.
BARC India has already set up a Vigilance Team to probe viewership malpractices complaints, as well as investigate abnormal viewership data recorded from BARC India Panel Households. The Disciplinary Council will independently examine Vigilance Team reports, and where culpability is established, it will be empowered to order action appropriate to the offence. The action could range from written warning and a fine for first level offence, to suspension of viewership data for three months, leading up to termination of contract with the subscriber.
Alongside setting up the high-level Council, BARC India has re-drafted terms of the contract it signs with its subscribers. This has been done to address limitations in the current End User Licence Agreements (EULA) and strengthen legal provisions that will allow the Council to crackdown on viewership malpractices. The updated EULA will soon be circulated to all BARC India subscribers.
“The BDC is a step forward in our commitment to ensuring transparency, and eradicating this long existing malpractice of panel tampering. We hope to build further credibility in our processes and systems under guidance of Justice Mukul Mudgal. The independent Council will also benefit from the advice of a seasoned law enforcement expert like Shivanandan, and the continued support of industry stakeholders,” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India.
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