Goa casinos to face fee hike; granted extension

Monday 27th of March 2017

Fees for onshore and offshore casinos have been raised for the third year in a row, local media reports.

The budget raised the fees for the renewal of licenses from Rs 2 million to Rs 3 million, while transfer fees for onshore and offshore casinos were raised to Rs 100 million and Rs 200 million respectively. The current FY 2016-17 had imposed Rs 200,000 as an application fee for transfer and Rs 50 million crore upon approval from the government.

The annual recurring fees for land-based casinos were also hiked by Rs 5 million, whereas offshore casinos will need to pay depending on the passenger capacity.

Vessels with up to 200 passengers will be mandated to pay Rs 100 million, those between 200 and 400 will be charged Rs 110 million, while those with passenger capacity with more than 400 will have to pay Rs 120 million.

In other news, the Goa government on Monday granted a six-month extension to the five offshore casinos to relocate from river Mandovi.

“The State cabinet has granted extension to five off shore casinos to relocate from river Mandovi from April 1 till September 30, 2017,” said a senior official to the Press Trust of India.

The previous government led by Laxmikant Parsekar had originally ordered offshore casinos to move out of the river by March 31, 2017.