Netflix India In Hot Soup As Probe Begins Over Alleged Visa Violations, Racial Discrimination & Tax Evasion

Days after its web series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ stirred up a hornet’s nest for failing to disclose the actual names of the terrorists depicted in the show, Netflix is now under the scanner of India with authorities probing the business practices of the OTT player’s local operations, including allegations of visa violations and racial discrimination.

As per the Reuters’ report, an email regarding the investigation has been sent on July 20, from a home ministry official to Nandini Mehta, former director of business and legal affairs at Netflix in India.

In response to Inc42’s queries, Netflix’s spokesperson said, “”We are unaware of an investigation by the Indian Government.”

“This is regarding visa and tax violations concerns regarding the business practices of Netflix in India,” the report quoted Indian official Deepak Yadav from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) of the home ministry in New Delhi.

“We have received certain details in this regard w.r.t (with respect to) the stated company’s conduct, visa violation, illegal structures, tax evasion and other malpractices including incidents of racial discrimination that company has been engaged in while conducting its business in India,” Yadav also said.

The report also said Mehta responded in an emailed statement that she is pursuing a lawsuit in the United States against Netflix for alleged wrongful termination as well as racial and gender discrimination, which the company has denied.

Additionally, Mehta said she welcomed the Indian investigation and hopes the authorities make their findings public, but did not elaborate on the allegations made by the government, as per the report.

“The accusations Mehta has made about our corporate structure in India are categorically untrue. Mehta was fired from Netflix for repeatedly using her corporate credit card for tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses, including nearly $9,000 spent at Cartier. We are confident her claims will be found to be totally lacking in merit,” Netflix’s spokesperson told Inc42.

Allegations have not been new for Netflix to handle as the company faced numerous cases, in terms of its content. Social media users and the public have called for boycotting the platform for its content being offensive to certain belief systems or sentiments, from time to time.

For instance, Netflix VP of Content Monika Shergill was summoned over row on ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ series, amid the hashtag #bannetflix trending on social media platform X for a few days, in August. The OTT platform has reportedly assured the government of keeping its content in accordance with “nation’s sentiments” in the future. 

A few months ago, the streaming platform was caught in allegations for its film ‘Maharaj’, as the movie portrayed “Hindu saints in negative light”. A day ahead of the film’s release, social media users trended hashtags like #BanNetflix and #BoycottNefflix on X (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, Netflix and producers of the show “Watch IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” have been sued by the news agency Asia News International (ANI) over alleged copyright and trademark infringement, a few weeks ago.

Despite the rows and allegations against Netflix in the country, India emerged as the second biggest market for the streaming giant in terms of paid subscriber additions for the quarter ended June 2024, on the back of robust content catalogue in the country. 

Further, India also ranked third in terms of revenue percent growth for the streaming giant during the second quarter of 2024, the company, then, said in a letter to its shareholders.

Updated at 12:17 PM