Nepalese lawmakers demanded that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation should reopen the country’s casinos that were shuttered back in April 2014.
The gambling venues were shut down due to unpaid taxes. Reportedly, Casino Royale at the Kathmandu-based Hotel Yak & Yeti opened doors last week but was quickly shuttered again.
As it was previously announced, more than 10,000 people remained unemployed as a result of the forceful closure of the venues. And what is more, they were not given their wages.
In September 2014, Nepalese Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat stated that casinos were to be opened soon. As it seems, four months later, no due actions have been taken.
The closure of the gambling venues imminently affected local tourism industry. It was reported that Nepalese players are now traveling to other countries so as to be able to engage in gambling activities.
The issue was discussed by members of the International Relations and Labor Committee of the Nepalese parliament on December 24. No additional information was released on what exactly happened during the meeting. Yet, local media reported that one of the lawmakers who took part in it shared that he was really concerned about the state of local tourism industry. As mentioned above, it seems that the lack of working casinos has quite a negative impact on it.
Earlier in 2014, the government of Nepal announced that the country’s national air carrier would buy a total of 22 new airplanes within the following 5 years. Of those, 7 would be intended for serving international routes and 15 would serve domestic ones. Thus, the Cabinet believes the mountainous country could be accessed more easily and its tourism might have its revival.
It could not be said whether the Nepalese Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation will agree to reopen the venues and when this is likely to happen. But considering the stagnant tourism industry and the government’s demands that their operations should be resumed, the Ministry will probably not drag the issue for long.
Nepalese gambling providers are paying certain licensing fees and royalty payments so as to be allowed to operate their casinos. Local government almost doubled the sum that is to be collected from royalty payments for the fiscal year 2014-2015 to NPR161.76 million or approximately US$1.6 million, compared to the the amount of NPR83.95 million or approximately US$828,000 that was received from such payments in the fiscal year 2013-2014.
According to the last licensing rules imposed by the local regulatory body, a given operator needs to pay the amount of NPR500,000 or US$4,934 as an application fee. In addition, NPR20 million (US$197,394) should be paid for the license itself. And the amount of NPR200,000 (US$1,973) should be paid for the application for provision of electronic casino games. The license itself costs NPR10 million (US$98,697).
