4302 cases of paid news were reported to ECI during 2019 Lok Sabha elections: I&B min

Information & Broadcasting (I&B) minister Prakash Javadekar has informed the Lok Sabha that 4302 cases of paid news have been reported to the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Between 2007 to 2019, 799 cases of paid news were reported to ECI during the state legislative assembly elections.

He further stated that the ECI has a well-structured mechanism at the national, state and district levels to receive complaints relating to ‘Paid News’ and take necessary remedial action.

The expenditure involved in these cases is included in the election expenditure of the candidates against which the paid news cases are confirmed, he added.

Javadekar noted that once the cases are decided / established as Paid news, ECI refers the cases of Print and Electronic media to PCI and News Broadcasting Standard Authority (NBSA) respectively for taking necessary action in the matter.