The process to establish the long overdue and incessantly delayed Gaming Commission to supervise, control and check Goa’s casino industry has been kick-started, five years the state government passed the amendment to the Goa Public Gaming Act, 1976, by introducing the Goa Public Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2012.
It is important to keep in mind the unheard of time frames a process like this takes, which in effect underlines that for over half a decade the casino industry has run without any regulations and controls which the Gaming Commission, when it is constituted seeks to achieve. The industry for the record has always backed a Gaming Commission, but the delay has been.
Assurances and promises, in the Assembly or outside from 2012 onwards have been made. The current exercise needs to culminate in the formation of a Gaming Commission in a fixed time frame which needs to be declared and that deadline meet. This cannot be open ended anymore.
The other issue is the focus on Goans not being allowed into casinos. It is indeed a fact that the agitation against casinos has revolved around Goans gambling away their fortunes and leading their families to economic ruin. A couple of years ago, giving details of the draft rules, the Home Department has informed there is also provision for the arrest of any Goan found gambling at casinos in the state. According to him, the draft rules had already been in-principle approved and was awaiting confirmation from the Law Department. It seems to have got stuck at that stage.
While the impact of Goans stuck in the casino habit needs to be addressed and the ban of Goans from casinos, hopes to check that, there is a question of diverting attention from the real mandate of the Gaming Commission, to control irregularities and ensure that there is zero-tolerance to black money flowing into the casino. Plus any semblance of tax evasion by the casinos operators should be detected by the Gaming Commission. Currently revenue is determined by entry ticket, sales tax, number of liquor bottles utilised and food and beverage. But there is no proper monitoring as of now.
Therefore, the formation of the Gaming Commission should be welcomed by the industry. But it is the government which should have the will to do this with alacrity. A five year delay is not a sign of alacrity.
Goans who gamble in casinos, according to Mr Jaidev Modi, Chairman of the Deltin Group, in a report published in a weekly in 2013, had said that 30% of the tourists come to the state to only play in casinos. With regards to Goans coming over to gamble, he said it was less than half percent of the visitors to the casino. With regards to a proposed law banning the entry of Goans into casinos, he said it was for the government to do what it deemed correct though he was not comfortable with the violation of personal rights.
The Gaming Commission, we were told five years ago, is expected to be fashioned on the lines of the Nevada Gaming Commission (which controls gambling in Las Vegas) and will regulate the casino industry, including the percentage the casinos make out of gamblers, besides ensuring a grievance redressal mechanism. We are not aware if the government is still inspired by the Nevada Gaming Commission or not, but the proof of the pudding is in the serving of a Gaming Commission with water tight controls, to ensure there is no revenue loss to the state and country.
The Gaming Commission needs to move from draft to final, with a set deadline. Regulating casinos cannot be a game of chance any more.
