London, February 8 The UK's media regulator, Ofcom, has revoked the broadcasting licenses associated with MATV, a channel focused on the Indian diaspora, due to violations of regulatory conditions. The satellite channel will be taken off air immediately.
Ofcom issued the revocation notice on Friday, following an investigation that began in August 2024, which concluded that the licenses were "illegally held" by Middlesex Broadcasting Corporation Limited (MBCL).
One license was for MATV National, a satellite television service broadcasting Indian programming in Hindi, Urdu, English, Gujarati, and Punjabi, while the second was for MATV Music – also a satellite television service – which reportedly remained inactive.
"In the UK, broadcasting laws passed by the UK Parliament state that broadcasting licensees must have control over the licensed services, including editorial oversight of the programs they broadcast," Ofcom stated in a statement.
"Our investigation concluded that MBCL, the licensee for MATV National and MATV Music services, did not have editorial responsibility for MATV's output.
As such, MBCL does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed services, and therefore, these services were not being broadcast in accordance with licensing requirements.
"We have given MBCL significant time to comply with the statutory rules. However, those efforts have now been exhausted," it stated.
Further details of Ofcom's investigation revealed that MATV Broadcasting Limited was providing the services without a license from Ofcom, which is a criminal offense under the UK's Broadcasting Act of 1990.
The investigators contacted Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat, registered as the licensee's compliance contact, and found that he was also the president of the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) UK.
Ofcom stated that a person is prohibited from holding a license if "they are a body controlled by an individual who is an officer of a body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature."
The regulator said that it was concerned that the OFBJP UK "is likely to be a body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature."
In representations made to Ofcom, MATV sought to highlight a change in the company's leadership structure, with Alpana Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat set to assume control to meet the broadcast license requirements.
"However, Ofcom has not yet received formal notification of this from the licensee," it stated.
MATV believes that the decision to take the channel off air is "politically motivated," claiming that the OFBJP UK is not a political entity but a social one that supports the causes of the Indian diaspora.
"MBCL held the licenses for broadcasting MATV National. MATV Music never went on air," said Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat, now the Europe in-charge of OFBJP, following an internal restructuring of the group last month.
"Ofcom's decision is politically motivated, as they have linked me as a controlling person with political affiliation. Neither was I controlling MATV, nor did I have a controlling stake in MBCL.
OFBJP is not a political party, nor is it registered as a political party, and we have no legal political affiliation or engage in any type of politics in the UK.
"We are a social body helping the Indian diaspora. But Ofcom has made a decision, even though I don't control these companies. We will do the needful to allow our channels to broadcast again in the UK," he said.
