Just ahead of the Budget session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, the State government has announced that from February 1 Goans would be banned from entering casinos. It also said that the Gaming Commission to regulate casinos in the State would be in place and that the Commercial Taxes Commissioner would operate as the Gaming Commissioner. While there is much opposition to the offshore casinos in the River Mandovi, and demands that the vessels be shifted out of the river, the government in a quick move to preempt the opposition plan to corner them on casinos has decided to appoint the Gaming Commission.
Specifically, what would be the role of the Gaming Commission and how can the entry of Goans be banned as per law? The answer is simple, the Gaming Commission will regulate operations of onshore as well as offshore casinos. Besides, the commission will ensure that gambling operations are carried on as per the rules laid down by the State. The Commission would finalise a payout ratio, a key to casino operations worldwide. Currently the payout ratio is 60-40 in favour of the casinos. But that exists on paper and in practice it could be less than that. The commissioner would look into this, especially since almost two decades after casinos first entered the State, there are no defined rules or payout ratio as is the custom in the casino industry worldwide. As a result the industry has its own way.
The State today has six offshore casinos operating in the River Mandovi and nearly a dozen onshore casinos. In 2010, succumbing to public pressure the then Digambar Kamat government had announced that the Gaming Commission would be set up, but till date it hasn’t seen the light of day. Successive governments, be it of the Congress or BJP have been dragging their feet, despite consistent demands from civil society groups. Information reveals that the commission would be set up on the lines of the Nevada Gaming Commission that regulates gambling in the world’s casino capital Las Vegas and will have penalising powers.
Another important point is how will the government ban the entry of Goans in offshore casinos? Politicians as well as civil society have been demanding such a ban on entry of Goans and the former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had also announced that a rule to this effect would be enforced. But, sources reveal that Parrikar realised the ban would be tough to implement and would also not stand the test of law. “I am of the opinion that Goans should not be allowed in casinos. The Goa Gambling Policy makes it clear that casinos are allowed only for tourism purpose and not for Goans to visit,” Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has said. It is not yet clear how the government proposes to implement the ban. “If the casinos are harmful to Goans… then they are equally harmful to non-Goans too. The industry itself should be shut down,” the Congress in Goa has said inresponse to this.
The question, therefore, still remains of how would the ban be implemented. Will every tourist, thousands in numbers who visit the casinos, be asked for identity before entering the casinos? Will the casinos industry not allow regular Goans who have been frequenting them, which would reduce the number of clients and bring loses to their business? Who will monitor that Goans are not allowed to enter the casinos? What penalties will the government impose for violation of law? Who will be penalised, the Goan or the casino operator? These are a few of the questions that the government will have to find answers to before issuing any circular on banning Goans from casinos.
