The channel has been penalized for the propagation of
misinformation and criticised for its coverage being supportive of the ideology of the ruling government of the
Bharatiya Janata Party and has been included among "
Godi media" news outlets who are supportive of the
Narendra Modi government. A 2024 report by
Bloomberg said that Aaj Tak was "frequently laudatory of
Modi". Prashanth Bhat & Kalyani Chadha in a 2024 article attributed its supportive coverage of the BJP's agenda, including "promoting nationalism and majoritarianism and advancing the government narrative" as well as those of other Indian news channels to economic incentives to obtain high television ratings in emulation of the content and high ratings obtained by
Times Now and
Republic TV. In 2017, Aaj Tak was criticised for propagating a false claim that a fatwa allowed Saudi Arabian men to
eat their wives. That same year, Aaj Tak also came under criticism for propagating a false claim that the
Indian Army had retaliated against Pakistan following attacks against Indian personnel in Kashmir. In October 2020, Aaj Tak was fined ₹1 lakh and asked to broadcast apologies for fake news regarding
Sushant Singh Rajput. The channel published fabricated last tweets by the actor on the channel, claiming that they were made by him a few days before
his death and then deleted. Aaj Tak later removed its article with this
fake news published in it. Aaj Tak was fined ₹5 lakh by
Broadcast Audience Research Council for viewership manipulation in a
TRP scam. Between 4 and 5 April 2020, Aaj Tak had broadcast reports about
Tablighi Jamaat. A complaint was filed with the
News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) in which Aaj Tak was accused of intending to "develop hatred in the minds of the people against a particular community," during the
COVID-19 pandemic in India. On 16 June 2021, the NBDSA directed that Aaj Tak's broadcasts be taken down from all Internet platforms that linked the COVID-19 outbreak with
Tablighi Jamaat in 2020, citing potential "errors in the figures telecast". The NBDSA said that the media has "complete freedom to report on the COVID pandemic", but "such reporting must be done with accuracy, impartiality and neutrality", and added, " The NBDSA noted that the broadcaster had admitted that there may have been chances that there were some miscalculations as pointed out by the complaint, which was inadvertent, and the broadcaster had no intention to communalise the issue or malign any community." In June 2022, the NBDSA said that Aaj Tak's taglines on
Umar Khalid ‘gave an impression that the accused had already been declared guilty’ and asked the news channel to take down those shows. In March 2023, Aaj Tak faced widespread social media ridicule after the clip of its coverage went viral, where the channel's representatives were seen filming gangster
Atiq Ahmed urinating while in transit from
Gujarat to
Prayagraj under the custody of police. In March 2024, NBDSA fined Aaj Tak for
Sudhir Chaudhary's 'tukde tukde' and '
Khalistani' remarks, against the former US president
Barack Obama and penalised the channel over '
Love Jihad' shows. In March 2024, NBDSA directed Aaj Tak to remove a fictional video aired during its
Black and White show, which depicted Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi as a robber. The NBDSA found the video to be in poor taste and stated that it did not align with ethical broadcasting standards. The authority warned the channel to exercise greater caution in future broadcasts to avoid misrepresentation and potential defamation. Aaj Tak has also been accused of foreign interference in the Canadian matters by the
Rapid Response Mechanism Canada. During the
2025 conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, the channel was criticised by Alt News for airing fabricated information about the conflict. ==Accolades==