PAC orders to close 9 casinos
Kathmandu:The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the Legislative Parliament directed the government to close the casinos running illegally within two weeks on Nov 21.
Casinos operated at the Everest‚ Tara‚ Royal‚ Anna‚ Nepal‚ Venus‚ Radisson‚ Phulbari and Pokhara Grand hotels have not paid royalty to the government for a long time. Though proprietors of these casinos were asked to get their licenses renewed within mid July‚ they have not followed the government directions yet.
Out of the 10 casinos in operation in Kathmandu, only Casino Shangri-La has paid its all royalties and fees to the government. Of the nine casinos that have yet to clear their dues, Casino Nepal located at Soaltee Crown Plaza has already been closed.The nine casinos’ outstanding dues stand at about Rs. 490 million till date. Their due for the last fiscal year alone was Rs. 334 million. The remaining due is of the current fiscal year.
As per the laws, each of the casinos has to pay Rs. 20 million as royalties within two months of the starting of every fiscal year. If they do not pay the royalties on time, the government shall charge 15 per cent additional fees as penalty for next three months.
Similarly, the parliamentary committee also directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Council of Ministers to collect the dues from the casinos and submit their reports to the PAC.The PAC redirected the MoTCA to introduce the Operations Guidelines for casinos and implement it within one month.
