KATHMANDU, MARCH 31

The Department of Tourism (DoT) has revoked the licence of three casino as they failed to clear of their arrears of royalty and renewal fees within the given deadline.

The department was compelled to take legal action against the errant casinos as they ignored to clear their dues despite repeated issuance of public notices urging them to do so, informed Khemraj Joshi, a section official at the DoT.

According to the department, the licence of three casinos - Rock International Pvt Ltd, Happy Hour Kathmandu and Oriental Hotels (Radisson Hotel), Lazimpat got cancelled as per the Casino Regulations 2013 after the three casinos failed to clear their outstanding fees amounting to Rs 905.5 million.

Of the total amount, Happy Hour Kathmandu has to settle Rs 301.7 million.

Meanwhile, Oriental Hotels (Radisson Hotel) Lazimpat owes the government Rs 300 million and the outstanding dues of Rock International Pvt Ltd is Rs 303.8 million.

The department had written to the Naxal Police Headquarters yesterday requesting action against the casino companies for not paying the arrears to the government within the given deadline.

According to Joshi, the DoT sent the official letter to Ministry of Home Affairs and Police Headquarters on March 29 requesting to implement the decision to revoke the licences of the casinos.

The department had given a five-day ultimatum on March 24 to the casinos to clear their outstanding dues following the direction of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 1, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.