VIBHA VERMA
PANJIM: Amidst the possible entry of a new Electronic Dance Music Festival (EDM) in the northern coastal belt this December, the tussle between Goa government and the organisers of the Sunburn festival continues, as the latter’s demand of a refund of Rs 6 crore from the State remains unfulfilled.
The issue, pending with the government, has forced the organisers to re-think whether to return to Goa this year even as both are currently looking for a solution.
Chairman and Managing Director of Percept Live, Harinder Singh, confirmed that they haven’t made any fresh applications. “We haven’t made any fresh applications for any Sunburn shows in Goa. We would consider doing so only after all payment and refund related issues have been cleared. As stated before, there are no plans of having any Sunburn shows in Goa till all issues are resolved,” he told Herald.
The government has been demanding payment of dues from Sunburn and Viacom 18’s Supersonic, as a result of which 2016 did not see either of the events in the State. Both festivals shifted to Pune after facing hurdles in obtaining permissions owing to other issues besides payments.
In a media statement last November, Percept had alleged that the Goa government has to refund them Rs 6 cr and was awaiting dispute resolution on the
Entertainment Tax levied on complimentary tickets and irrational police bandobast charges.
“We requested for a reversal of the revised police bandobast charges levied for the events held in the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 and a refund of excess charges paid under protest for the respective years. Refund of State Level Permission Committee fees of Rs 50 lakh of Windsong Music Festival held in December 2012, payment of the balance amount of Rs 3.03 crore due for the (performance) Lusofonia Games held in 2014 and revision of a single window process ensuring SLPC permission and fees paid to be sufficient and no further permission or fees to be paid to any other department are some of the issue to be settled with the State government,” the media release had mentioned. Sources close to the company told Herald that the status has not changed till date.
If the matter comes to a positive resolution, an official said, Sunburn could make a comeback. However, the problems it might face are the venue and event dates, which are already booked by Time Out 72 Hours music festival, the organisers of which are a Gujarati-firm.
Tourism Department has received a proposal from Ayush Mehta of Sudarshan Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad to hold the mega event from December 28 to 29, 2017 in survey number 206/1 at Vagator, opposite Hilltop in Anjuna. A final go-ahead from the government is awaited.
“If problems of venue and dates arise, we will search for new dates and an alternate place. However, nothing is decided yet as our talks with the government is still in progress and our issues are being addressed,” one of Sunburn officials said.
