The director of a regional news channel has been accused of cheating his employees by not paying the provident fund amount due to them, according to nine complaints registered at the Cubbon Park police station here on Wednesday.
Complaint
According to the complaint, the management of Suvarna Karnataka Broadcast Limited (Samaya TV) used to deduct 12 per cent of each employee’s salary but have not remitted the amount since June 2011.
According to the sources, the channel, which was earlier run by the former minister Satish Jarkiholi, was handed over to Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, who in turn entrusted its administration to his close confidante, Satish Narayan, a business tycoon from Hassan.
The ownership then changed from Satish Sugars to Suvarna Karnataka Broadcast Limited. But the three-year-old channel lost so much money employees were paid only once in three months, sources told The Hindu . When some of them approached the management seeking salaries on time, they were terminated from services. They then went to get their PF savings but to their shock they found that though the company had deducted their contributory amount, it had not been not remitted in the amount.
When contacted, Mr. Narayan, the director, declined to comment. “I am not aware of any complaint. I will check with the HR and then comment,” he said.
