Thousands out of work since April ’14
Last April, the Nepal government declared all casinos in the mountainous republic illegal because they were in arrears on their government royalties and licensing fees. With the declaration, a number of venues shut down, hobbling an industry that has been in business since the late 1960s and putting thousands of people out of work.
According to CalvinAyre.com, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said the casinos were close to re-opening in September 2014, but it didn’t happen. GGRAsia reported that one resort, the Casino Royale at the Hotel Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu, briefly reopened in late December but quickly closed again.
In the interim, the government has doubled casino royalty payments for fiscal 2014-2015 to NPR161.76 million (US$1.6 million), compared to NPR83.95 million ($US 830,000) in 2013-14. According to the rules, operators must pay a NPR500,000 application fee, and NPR20 million for the license itself. Electronic gambling halls must pay NPR200,000 for the application, and add NPR10 million for a license.
At a December 24 meeting of the Nepalese parliament’s international relations and labor committee, lawmakers criticized the closures, saying they have had a severe negative impact on the country’s tourism industry. One lawmaker was quoted as saying, “We have Nepalis traveling to foreign countries to gamble at casinos, but the government has failed to re-open our own.”
Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties also noted the rise in unemployment. Around 10,000 casino workers lost their jobs in the casino closures, and none have received a paycheck since.
“It’s unclear how this strong-arming will compel the country’s Tourism Ministry to reopen the country’s casinos,” noted a report at CalvinAyre.com. “But with the combination of government pressure and stagnating tourism growth, it would
