India probes Netflix ‘for visa violations, racial discrimination’

India is investigating the business practices of US streaming giant Netflix’s local operations, including allegations of visa violations and racial discrimination, according to a government e-mail sent to a former executive.The details of India’s investigation were included in a July 20 e-mail, reviewed by Reuters, which was written by a home ministry official to Netflix’s former director of business and legal affairs for India, Nandini Mehta, who left the company in 2020."This is regarding visa and tax violations concerns regarding the business practices of Netflix in India,” wrote 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,” he added.In an e-mailed statement, Mehta said she is pursuing a lawsuit in US against Netflix for alleged wrongful termination as well as racial and gender discrimination – charges the company denies. 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. Yadav declined to comment, saying he was not authorised to speak to media. The FRRO and India’s home ministry did not respond to Reuters queries. A Netflix spokesperson said the company was "unaware of an investigation by the Indian government.”The Indian official’s e-mail shows growing scrutiny of Netflix in India, where it has roughly 10mn users and which it considers a growth market where companies target affluent people in the nation of 1.4bn people.