KATHMANDU, Feb 16: The government has not received payments exceeding Rs 110 million from three casinos this year. Central Media, located in Kathmandu's Khichapokhari, Ratna Services, based in Biratnagar, and Venue Creation have failed to pay over Rs 119 million to the government, including royalty, renewal, and additional fees.

Chun Bahadur Tamang, section officer of the hotel section under Mountaineering, Hotel and Monitoring Section of the Department of Tourism (DoT), said that the three casinos have failed to pay the dues to the government. "Central Media, Ratna Services and Venue Creation have not renewed their casinos this year." He added, "Three casinos have not been renewed so far due to non-payment of dues to the government."

According to the data of the hotel section, Central Media still owes Rs 80 million to the government in royalty, renovation and additional fees, so the casino has not been renewed. It has been seen in the data that Central Media has a remaining balance of Rs 78 million to the government from last year. Similarly, Central Media owes a total of Rs 80 million.

In this context, Central Media will have to pay more than Rs 80 million to the government within the next month for royalties, renewals, and additional fees. Similarly, Ratna Services in Biratnagar has failed to submit more than Rs 20 million due to the lack of renewal and verification. According to the hotel section, Ratna Services will have to submit Rs 29 million within the next month for royalties, renewal, and additional taxes.

Similarly, Venue Creation's casino has not been renewed this year due to arrears exceeding Rs 10 million. According to data from the hotel section, Venue Creation's non-payment of a total of Rs 11 million, including Rs 6 million in royalties and Rs 5 million in renewals, has led to the non-renewal. This amount constitutes a lump sum for royalties, renewals, and additional fees.

According to the Finance Bill 2080 BS, the casino operators must pay 40 percent of the first installment by mid-January every year for the renewal of the casino, an additional 30 percent of the second installment by mid-April and the remaining 30 percent by mid-July.

At the same time, casino operating companies have paid more than Rs 760 million in royalties to the government in six months. The government has collected Rs 761.3 million in royalties by mid-January of the fiscal year 2023/24.

According to data from the hotel sections, up to mid-January, the government has collected Rs 181.75 million for the casino renewal fee and Rs 579.6 million for royalty and other charges.

Currently, the DoT has registered 30 casinos. Among them, 13 are major casinos operating in five-star hotels, while 17 are mini casinos operating solely through modern machines or equipment in four-star hotels.

Central Media, Rock International, and Happy Hour each operate four mini casinos. Before the issuance of Casino Regulations 2070 BS, one license could operate a maximum of 10 casinos.

After the release of the Casino Regulations 2070 BS, authorities have arranged that those who had obtained a license should complete the process again and come to register. At that time, it was stated that licenses of casinos failing to comply with the registration process would be revoked. After that, some casinos went through the registration process, while others did not.

Meanwhile, Rock International, Happy Hour, and Central Media Group, along with Yak and Yeti and Casino Royale, refused to participate in the registration process. They filed a lawsuit against the decision. At that time, the court issued an interim order allowing them to continue their business without interruption. As a result, Rock International, Happy Hour, and Central Media currently operate four casinos each.

Although the DoT has registered 30 casinos, the actual number of operating casinos is 39, based on the locations where casinos are being operated, as three casinos each are running at four locations.

 
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