PANJIM: Golden Globe Hotels Private Limited (GGHPL) has moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa seeking directions to the State government to reduce the fee hike. The petitioner contended that the government’s decision was without intimation to casino operators and that a sudden surge could impact tourism in the State.
The writ petition, which is currently in the pre-admission stage, has cited difficulty in paying the huge fee hike. “It is alright that government annually increases the fee hike by 5-10 percent, but the present hike will add to the financial burden. It could even affect the tourism industry and jobs to locals. We fear that some casinos might shut down… It will ultimately affect the revenue to the State exchequer too,” said a representative of Golden Globe. The matter will be heard on Wednesday.
In a bid to increase the revenue collection through casinos, the government in the last week of March took a major decision by increasing various licensing fees by up to 4.5 times, that came into force from April 1.
The annual recurring fee for offshore casino vessels with passenger capacity of over 400 has been hiked 3.5 times whereas the hike in the same fee for other casinos vessels ranges between 2.5 and 4.5 times. For offshore casinos with passenger capacity above 200 and up to 400 the fee has been hiked to Rs 30 crore a year as against existing Rs 11 crore whereas for vessels with passenger capacity up to 200 it has been increased to Rs 25 crore from the earlier Rs 10 crore a year.
The transfer license fee has also been upped. For onshore casinos, this has been increased to Rs 30 crore from Rs 10 crore while for offshore casinos the new fee stands at Rs 50 crore from the present Rs 20 crore. The licence application fee for both offshore and onshore casinos is hiked from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
Casino operators also recently also petitioned the government requesting to reduce the fees.
The High Court also pulled up the casino firm that has taken over Maharaja Casino on a six-month lease, for a wrong submission in the petition that the High Court had directed the authorities to allot a jetty to Lucky 7 casino vessel. The petitioner company was asked to amend the petition and correct the paragraph, and tender an apology. Lucky 7 is currently undergoing major repair works at Cochin dock yard.
