UK-based outdoor broadcast firm SIS Live, the contract firm for the broadcast production of Commonwealth Games, is set to lose Rs 96 crore or 40% of its contract fee after tax authorities have discovered several irregularities in its contract paperwork. So far, SIS Live has managed to get Rs 150 crore from Prasar Bharati and was looking for the balance payments by early November.

?There are a number of irregularities in the contract papers SIS Live signed with Prasar Bharati. There are also instances of changes made to the contract after it was agreed upon and signed earlier this year,? a top government official said.

?We still hold 40% out of its Rs 246 crore contract. A very good chance is that it may not be released to them anytime soon,? a top official in Prasar Bharati said .

According to government sources, there is no dispute regarding SIS Live and the award of CWG broadcast contract. Also, SIS Live registered itself in India in September-October 2009. ?The question to be raised here are the efforts by SIS Live to evade service tax, giving false registration number, insertion of clauses that allowed it to sub-contract its work to Zoom Communications, changes made to its service contract post acceptance and making Doordarshan liable to financial damages,? a senior official in the I&B ministry said.

According to Prasar Bharati sources, SIS Live threatened to walk out of its CWG contract in September, if certain terms of its original contract with Prasar Bharati were not reworked in its favour. SIS Live also arm-twisted Doordarshan and made it pay 30% of the contract amount in October, just a week before the Games in total violations of the set norms, sources said. However, everyone connected with the matter ? law ministry, CVC, I&B ministry, finance ministry and other departments ? were updated on what was going on, a source in Prasar Bharati said.

?First SIS Live agreed to all the terms of its contract for CWG broadcast production. But just a month to go for the Games, it started demanding payments ahead of the agreed schedule else threatened to walk out. Also, it demanded changes in the contract papers, some of which had to be agreed by Doordarshan against all set norms,? a top official in Prasar Bharati said.

SIS Live did not respond to an email query sent in this regard. Messages sent to its project in-charge of India CWG remained unanswered.