According to the ED officials, searches were conducted at the premises of Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and Select Media Holdings Private Limited (SMHPL) in connection with the case. PPL and SMHPL were to pass on the collected royalty to the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) who had given them the rights of collecting the royalty. During the raid, ED found a rate card of 30,000 establishments like malls, hotels, bars and restaurants to whom the companies had provided licenses for playing music in return of royalty. "Few music companies had altered their books to mask the outstanding dues and shown it as their company's asset instead of liability. After collecting the royalties from consumers they did not pass it on to the IPRS," said an ED official.

Source: dna November 24, 2017 01:30 UTC