EC received 750 complaints of paid news: I&B minister

MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has received 750 complaints of paid news during the state assembly elections in the current year, Information & Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said.

In comparison, the ECI had received 155 complaints of paid news during the state assembly elections last year.
Tewari also informed that the Press Council of India (PCI) has received nine complaints of paid news this year compared to 17 in the previous.

"The Press Council of India (PCI), an autonomous body to maintain and improve the standards of press, received 17 complaints of paid news in the year 2009-10, two complaints in the year 2010-11 and 11 complaints in 2011-12 and nine complaints till date in the current year," Tewari said in a statement laid in the Lok Sabha.

In response to another question, Tewari told the Lok Sabha that Doordarshan had earned Rs 865.7 million from the auction of slots on its direct-to-home (DTH) platform to free-to-air channels in the year 2011-12.