Sebi fines NDTV Rs 5 cr over disclosure lapses

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on NDTV for its failure to disclose price-sensitive information about VCPL loan agreements but the company denied the charges and said it will appeal against the ruling. The loan agreements had clauses and conditions that substantially affected the functioning of the media company, Sebi said in its order.

The regulator said its probe began after receipt of complaints in 2017 from Quantum Securities Pvt Ltd about an alleged violation of rules by non-disclosure of material information to the shareholders about loan agreements with Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Ltd (VCPL).

As per Sebi, a loan amount of Rs 350 crore was borrowed by the promoters of NDTV under the VCPL loan agreement in 2009 to repay earlier loan availed from ICICI Bank and a second loan agreement with VCPL was signed for Rs 53.85 crore a year later.