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Goa state government to inspect local casinos

Always staying under the limelight, the heart of poker, Goa has been operating the casino industry for over two decades now. On Monday, the Indian media reported that the state government has planned to send teams to inspect Goa’s six floating casinos as well as the land-based venues in local hotels. The year 2020 has been remarkable and such a step by the government could prove to be highly progressive.

A special team has been constituted by the state government in order to check the carrying capacity of the offshore casino vessels as per the provision of the Goa Gambling Act as well as the onshore casino operating in star hotels in the state. This move has been sparked by the fact that some offshore casino operators have been maintaining the carrying capacity of these vessels that are very different from what they stated at the time of licensing which resulted in revenue loss for the government.

The inspection team will be led by Under Secretary (Home) including an officer of commercial taxes, assistant engineer of public works department, police inspector of the region and an officer from the Goa State Pollution Control Board as members. A senior official in the home department said that the government issues licenses for the operation of casinos based on certain conditions which clearly indicates that the provisions of the Goa Gambling Acts are not violated. The team will check whether the offshore and onshore casino operators are abiding by the condition.

These tax inspectors will be concerned whether the floating casino capacity will match the figures on the reports that each vessel is required to file for the government to determine its tax obligations. The state government is convinced that some casinos have been starving the state of its rightful revenue by deliberately understating their capacity.

So far, the Goa government that keeps promising to lay down casino policies and regulatory mechanisms for the industry has made no satisfactory progress which naturally makes this step quite necessary. On the other hand, the evergreen issue surrounding the promises to shift offshore casinos to an alternative location and to enact a comprehensive policy for regulating casinos in the state has made no advancement till date. For the latest updates on poker news and tournaments around the world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!

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