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NEPAL
Local operators say new bill fails to address high fees, locals ban Nepal has proposed new regulations to tighten oversight of its casinos, just five years after passing legislation to govern the sector, though some local operators have expressed disappointment at a ban on locals and high fees.
T
he latest bill seeks stricter action against casino operators that default on taxes and flee the country. The proposed Federal Tourism Act 2018 includes regulation on mountaineering, casinos, trekking and adventure sports. It also envisages a powerful 19-member National Tourism Council chaired by the prime minister. Aside from the authority to confiscate property of casino operators who default on taxes, the bill also allows authorities to seize assets, passports, and bank accounts in Nepal and abroad. The bill, which is largely drawn from the Casino Regulation of 2013, also imposes strict rules against gambling by locals. While foreign investors have largely welcomed the new bill, local operators have sought several amendments.
Asia Gaming Briefings | Februay 2019
Chiranjibi Acharya, a spokesman for the Casino Operators Association Nepal (CAN), said the new bill retained many of the unpopular provisions from the Casino Regulations of 2013. “Rather than making changes to many provisions of the regulation, which we had demanded earlier, the current proposal continues with the old ones,” he said. The local operators had urged the government not to increase fees, such as raising the license fee from 20 million Nepali rupees to 30 million for casinos and from 10 million Nepali rupees to 20 million for mini casinos, which must be situated in four-star hotels. “We have requested the government to provide us 50 percent discount in these fees,” said Acharya. Acharya said local operators were lobbying
for the government to allow Nepalese to gamble since “they were travelling to countries like India, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Cyprus for the purpose.” The CAN has also opposed the rule that says mini casinos should be 5 kilometres from the international border. “The whole idea of border casino is to attract customers from across the border. If the rule was included for security reasons, we haven’t seen any problem so far,” he said. Provisions such as betting limits and the declaration of the number of chips and their value should also be removed from the proposed bill, he added. The bill imposes a windfall tax, though CAN is calling for the tax only to be imposed on winnings above 1 million Nepali rupees ($8,900). Though the Ministry of Tourism has invited input from stakeholders, it isn’t likely to make amendments on fees and
