Casinos get reprieve as PAC decides to hold discussions

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, MAR 02 -

Eight casinos facing possible closure for defaulting on their royalty payments got a temporary reprieve on Tuesday with the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) deciding to go for extensive discussions.

PAC’s move came amid growing pressure from casino trade unions who want action against the gambling houses to be delayed.

PAC’s latest stance has raised questions whether the casinos will actually be penalized. Earlier, it had taken a tough position even asking the government to scrap the licenses of those who flout government rules.

Lawmakers were divided into two groups at Tuesday’s meeting, one demanding that the licenses be scrapped immediately and the other suggesting further discussion. Lawmakers like Dhanraj Gurung and Lal Babu Pandit were for an immediate scrapping of the licenses while Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Prakash Chandra Lohani, Prem Bahadur Singh and Narayan Dahal were for holding more discussions.

With four among the eight casinos recommended for action by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) having cleared their outstanding royalties and dues, the Tourism Ministry is in a dilemma whether to take action against all of them or only the four that haven’t paid their dues. Of late, trade unions affiliated to the casinos have intensified their lobbying with government officials and lawmakers to delay action.

Casino Anna has said that it would clear its remaining dues. Casino representatives told PAC that their management would be clearing the dues within a weak. “The new management is committed to clearing the liabilities,” said Hem Bahadur Rawal, representative of Casino Anna. “The government should consider the willingness of the new management.”

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was expected to take action against the eight casinos on Monday. The Tourism Ministry on Feb. 27 had said that it would forward the file to chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire on Feb. 28 for a final decision.

On Dec. 28, 2010, PAC had directed the government to cancel the licenses of all the casinos that failed to clear their dues within 35 days. Based on that directive, the DRI on Feb. 14 had formally requested the Tourism Ministry to take against the eight casinos.

Hoteliers housing the casinos said at Tuesday’s meeting that if the casino operators did not clear their dues, then they would pay them. However, they said that the onus for clearing the dues lies with the casino operators as they have been paying them in the past.

Lawmakers pointed out that the hotels should be made liable for the dues and royalties. “The hotels should not move away from their responsibility,” said lawmaker Prakash Chandra Lohani. Hotel Annapurna’s acting general manager Paras Rana told PAC that the hotel did not hold the operating license of Casino Anna. “The license belongs to Annapurna International that used to operate the hotel in the past,” said Rana.

However, Soaltee Hotel representative said that the government should first auction the properties owned by Nepal Recreation Centre (NRC) to recover unpaid dues.

According to him, if the money thus raised falls short of the payments owed, the hotels would be liable for the rest. Two casinos run by Rakesh Wadhwa’s NRC haven’t made any payments till date despite enormous pressure from the government.

Piyush Bahadur Amatya, chairman of the Fulbari Resort, said that the hotel management was forced to take ownership of the casinos after the casino operators failed to clear government dues and hotel rentals. Amatya asked for more time to clear the dues. As of now, the hotel has paid Rs 13 million to the government.