I-T survey on BBC continues for third day

New Delhi: The Income-Tax department's 'survey' at the BBC office here continued for the third straight day on Thursday as officials gathered financial data from select staffers and made copies of electronic and paper data of the news organisation.

The operation that began at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai around 11:30 am on Tuesday has clocked more than 45 hours now, officials said. Authorities had said on Wednesday that the exercise would continue for some more time, saying the "exact time frame to call the operation closed rests entirely on the teams on the ground".

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials have said.

The survey teams are seeking answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about the news company, and are copying data from electronic gadgets as part of their task of collecting the evidence, tax officials had said.

Opposition parties have denounced the I-T department action against the London-headquartered public broadcaster, terming it "political vendetta".