SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, FEB 28 -
With the deadline to furnish clarification ending on Sunday, the fate of eight casinos facing possible closure for non-payment of royalties, is now in the hands of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) on Sunday said it would forward the file to chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire on Monday.
With MoTCA still without a minister, the responsibility of moving against the casinos will now be taken over by the PMO. “As the prime minister is holding the responsibility of the Tourism Ministry, the fate of the eight casinos will be decided by the PMO,” said tourism secretary Kishore Thapa at a meeting of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Sunday.
The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) on Feb. 14 had formally requested the Tourism Ministry to take against the eight casinos as per PAC’s directives. On Dec. 28, 2010, PAC had instructed the government to revoke the licenses of those casinos that fail to pay their royalties and dues within 35 days.
Lawmakers on Sunday rapped the Tourism Ministry for not taking prompt action against the eight casinos as per DRI’s recommendation. They also sought the ministry’s clarification why it issued a show-cause notice.
They were also critical of the proposed casino guidelines that allows entry of Nepalis to casinos. “We won’t accept such a proposal of legalising the entry of Nepalis,” said lawmaker Hridayesh Tripathi. According to the draft guidelines, big taxpayers would be allowed to play in the gambling houses. “The government had issued operating licenses to the casinos to promote tourism by bringing foreigners, not Nepalis,” said another lawmaker Prem Bahadur Singh.
The Finance Ministry also stood against allowing Nepalis in casinos. “We (Finance Ministry) have clearly suggested that the Tourism Ministry should not legalise entry of Nepali citizens,” said revenue secretary Krishna Hari Banskota at the PAC meeting.
Tourism secretary Thapa said that the ministry would follow PAC directives while drafting the casino guidelines. MoTCA’s reluctance to stop mini casinos also attracted the wrath of lawmakers. PAC had earlier directed the ministry to shut down the mini casinos. “We will issue instructions to stop these mini casinos tomorrow,” said Thapa, responding to lawmakers’ queries.
There was a new twist in the casino episode on Sunday with four casinos, Casino Rad, Casino Venus, Casino Grand and Casino Shangri-La, clearing all their dues. These four casinos are in the list forward by the DRI to the Tourism Ministry for action. Casino Rad, Casino Venus, Casino Grand hadn’t cleared their interest fees for the current fiscal year when the DRI wrote to the ministry while Casino Shangri-La had paid the royalty for the current fiscal year only.
It is not clear whether action would be taken against these four casinos that have paid their dues. Tourism Ministry officials said they would abide by PAC’s directives. “As per the directives, the names of eight casinos would be forwarded to the PMO,” said Tourism Ministry spokesperson Laxman Bhattarai.
However, two casinos owned by Rakesh Wadhwa’s Nepal Recreation Centre haven’t cleared their dues till date. Wadhwa had indicated that he would pay the dues if the government provided a “conducive environment” for his return to Nepal. Wadhwa has been absconding ever since the police issued an arrest warrant against him. His two casinos, Casino Nepal and Casino Anna, owe the government Rs 244 million
in dues.
As per the Finance Bill, casinos that fail to clear their royalty payments by mid-January will lose their operating licenses. And those whose licenses have been scrapped should go for a new process to acquire licenses.
The government started tightening the screw against casinos six months ago after their repeated failure to clear royalties and dues. Their continued defiance of government orders to clear their dues and bar Nepalis from entering their premises even forced the government and PAC to explore the possibility of moving them out of Kathmandu. In a bid to regulate the casino business, PAC issued a series of directives to the government from drafting a Casino Act and working procedures for casinos to amending the existing Gambling Act.
