All casinos in Nepal declared illegal

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation took the decision as the casino operators failed to clear their outstanding royalties and obtain new operating permits despite repeated extension of the deadline by the government. The latest deadline expires today. 

Casinos owe a total of us$ 10 million to the government. 

Their pending dues date back to as early as fiscal year 2005/06, according to sources at the Ministry of Tourism. 

"The ministry didn't renew licenses of the ten casinos operating in the premises of different five-star hotels in the country as some didn't apply for renewal within the given time-frame and applications of others were filed without fulfilling due process," the ministry said yesterday. 

The government has recently introduced new casino regulation, according to which, casinos have to pay us$ 407,656 annually as royalty to the government besides income tax. 

There are eight casinos operating in Kathmandu and two in Pokhara, the tourist hub of western Nepal. 

Some 4,000 people are employed in the casino business. 

Besides this, the casinos also did not obey the government's regulation which restricts Nepalese nationals from entering into the gaming halls. 

Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson at the ministry, said all casinos will be illegal from tomorrow. 

He said the ministry has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs not to allow casinos to do business from tomorrow. 

Earlier, the government had introduced Casino Rules 2013 in a bid to regulate them and make casino business more decent as per the Tourism Policy of 2008. 

The rule had made it mandatory for all casinos to apply for renewal of their license by paying all outstanding dues within four months of the beginning of the current fiscal year. 

Casinos operated in Hotel Shangrila and Pokhara-based Fulbari Resort and Hotel Pokhara Grande have already notified the government about closure of their operations.