Fact Check: Delhi CM did not make this announcement on ads in paid TV channels, viral claim is fake

New Delhi (Vishvas News).  A viral post on social media claims Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that paid TV channels must not have advertisements. It alleges that it is a move to curb broadcasters from earning payments from subscribers and advertising agents. 

Vishvas News investigation revealed the claim is fake. AAP Spokesperson denied the claims clarifying the CM has not made any such announcement. 

Claim

A viral meme with a picture of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tamil language alleges that he had announced that paid TV channels should not have advertisements. It further claims that it is move to curb broadcasters from earning in crores through advertising agents and subscribers. Hence advertisements can be broadcasted only in free channel subscriptions. The archived version of the post can be seen here. 

Investigation

We searched on the Internet for news about the new announcement from Delhi CM. We could identify such claims have been viral on social media even since 2019.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in December 2018 notification you won’t be paying for unwanted content. Subscribers can now choose the channels they wish to watch for a certain price that has already been decided by the broadcasters.TV viewers will have to subscribe to a base pack of Rs 130 + GST@18% (total Rs 153). This base pack will include 26 Doordarshan channels, and a choice of up to 100 free-to-air channels from a selection of 500 channels… Over and above this base pack, subscribers can choose their own channels and pay accordingly, stated an article in the Financial Express.

While we could identify the claim is viral after this, we did not find any authentic news reports on CM announcement on ad-free TV channels then and now. 

We noticed that TRAI is not a completely independent telecom regulator. The Government exercises certain amount of control over TRAI. Under section 25 of the Act it has the power to issue directions which are binding on TRAI. The TRAI is also funded by the Central Government. Moreover, under section 35 of the TRAI Act, the Central Government has the power to make rules on various subjects and such rules are binding upon TRAI. Hence, a state government authority is not entitled to make such announcements.  

Vishvas News contacted Aam Aadmi Party Spokesperson Surel Tilve for verification. “The viral claim is fake. Chief Minister had not mad any such announcements,” said Tilve. 

Social scanning of the user who shared the viral post revealed that he lives in Virudunagar, Tamil Nadu and has 4,353 friends on Facebook.