Casinos yet to pay due royalty
KATHMANDU:
Casinos operating in the country have only one day left to pay the due royalty amount and get new operating licences, as the 15-day deadline extended by the government expires tomorrow.
If the casinos in operation fail to pay the royalty amount by tomorrow, their operating licences will get scrapped automatically the next day, Ranjan Krishna Aryal, chief of the legal division at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told The Himalayan Times. “But their licence will not be scrapped if they file an application for a new one by tomorrow,” he added.
Earlier, the government had asked all casinos to clear the due royalty amount and apply for new operating licences within November 20 based on the Casino Regulation, which was introduced for the first time in the country on July 22. As pressure started mounting on the government and Constituent Assembly election fever gripped the country, the government then extended the deadline to March 21. But after the casino operators failed to get new licences within the stipulated timeframe, the Cabinet meeting held on March 21 extended the deadline yet again to April 4.
Upon extension of the deadline on March 21, a delegation of the Casino Association Nepal met with Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bhim Acharya and asked him to roll back the decision to slap flat royalty fee of Rs 40 million per year and revise provisions in the new Casino Regulation, mainly minimum paid up capital requirement of Rs 250 million, and hike in application fee to Rs 500,000, licence fee to Rs 20 million and licence renewal fee to Rs 10 million.
Following the meeting, a committee was formed to look into the matter. “During the committee’s meeting held on Tuesday, casino operators repeated the same demands placed before the minister, which are not acceptable to the ministry,” Aryal said, noting that the ministry is not in a mood to extend the deadline again.
Aryal’s statement means casinos operating in the country will be deemed illegal by the government if they fail to pay due royalty amount and get new licences by tomorrow.
Nine casinos, including Casino Nepal and Casino Pokhara, which have been shut down owed the government Rs 657.67 million in due royalty amount as of mid-July. Apart from this amount, eight casinos in operation, including Casino Mahjong which acquired Casino Nepal, have to pay another Rs 40 million in royalty amount for this fiscal year.
The financial ordinance of this fiscal has fixed annual royalty amount of Rs 40 million for each casino. This amount had to be paid in advance to the MoCTCA within two months of the beginning of the current fiscal year. As they failed to pay the amount on time, they were slapped a fine of 15 per cent of the annual royalty amount and were asked to pay the due royalty within the next three months. After they failed to deposit this due amount at state coffers, the government had slapped a fine of another 15 per cent of the annual royalty amount. This means that each of the casinos has to pay a fine of at least Rs 12 million for not paying the royalty of this fiscal.
Of the casinos that have not paid the due royalty, Casino Nepal, which has been shut down, tops the list, with due amount standing at Rs 266.80 million as of mid-July. Since the casino has now been taken over by Casino Mahjong, it needs to cough up Rs 40 million as royalty for this fiscal and a fine of at least Rs 12 million on this unpaid royalty.
Next in the list of the highest accumulator of due royalty amount is Casino Fulbari operated by Pokhara-based The Fulbari Resort. The casino, which obtained operating licence in March 2001, owed Rs 160.86 million in due royalty amount to the government as of mid-July. Close on the heels of Casino Fulbari is Annapurna International Pvt Ltd, which operates Casino Anna, with due royalty amount standing at Rs 152.68 million as of mid-July.
Similarly, Casino Royale, Casino Everest, Casino Venus, Casino Rad and Casino Tara (now Casino Star) owe due royalty amount in the range of Rs 2.96 million to Rs 49.50 million.
Among others, Casino Pokhara located at Hotel Pokhara Grand, which has already been shut down, owes Rs 827,500, but another casino which folded up its business — Casino Shangrila — has cleared all its dues.
Source: THT
