KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 10

The Department of Tourism (DoT) has directed Durbar Marg-based Hotel Yak & Yeti to halt all its operations, including its casino business.

The department ordered the closure of the hotel and casino for failing to pay the royalty and licence renewal fee amounting to the tune of nearly Rs 422.57 million.

A ministerial-level decision on Tuesday led to the action against Hotel Yak & Yeti after the management failed to heed to repeated calls to clear the dues, as per a DoT notice issued on Wednesday.

As per the DoT notice, the hotel management had ignored repeated calls to clear its dues in the past. In the current fiscal year, the department had sent a letter on October 24, 2021, urging the hotel management to clear its dues within 35 days. Another letter was sent on January 27, in which the hotel was given 15 days to clear the dues.

Failing to get any response, the department had then published a public notice on Gorkhapatra national daily on February 2, urging the hotel management to clear the dues within seven days.

Thereafter Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Tuesday decided to take action against the hotel for repeatedly ignoring the government's pleas.

Meanwhile, along with freezing all the bank accounts and immovable assets of Hotel Yak & Yeti, the government has also cancelled its five-star category certificate.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.