Pemra issues show cause notices to 27 channels

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Wednesday issued show cause notices to 27 private television channels over defiance of its orders of March 3.

On the said date, Pemra in its meeting had directed these channels to air apology on March 6 between 6:00pm and 7:00pm for telecasting fake news about Gulberg Lahore bomb blast dated February 23. However, these channels did not comply with the orders of the authority.

For defying Pemra's order, these TV channels had been directed to submit a reply within seven days by March 15 and explain why appropriate legal action may not be initiated against them.

With regard to airing apology, only two TV channels, Kohinoor TV and Channel-5, complied with the authority's orders. The 27 channels which defied Pemra's orders and had been issued show cause notices, were; ARY News, Khyber News, 92 Channel, Dunya TV, SAMAA TV, Metro One, Geo News, Awaz TV, Jaag TV, Abb Takk, Roze TV, Dawn News, Mehran TV, 7News, Lahore News, Neo TV, Capital TV, Sach TV, Sindh TV News, Express News, Din News, Waqt TV, KTN News, News One, 24 Channel, Bol News, and K-2. In the meeting, Pemra had also imposed a fine of Rs1 million on each national private TV channel and Rs500,000 on each regional channel which aired the news. The fine amount had to be deposited within three weeks of the date of the issuance of Pemra's decision.