The Goa government has issued a notification hiking the fee of license renewal by 50 percent for casinos in five-star hotels as well as offshore casinos. The existing fee of Rs 20 lakh per casino is now increased to Rs 30 lakh per casino.

The notification has also fixed the transfer of license fee pertaining to casinos in five-star hotels to Rs 10 crore and for the offshore casinos to Rs 20 crore.

The notification stated that, “upon the approval of the government, the licensee of the land-based casino in a five-star hotel shall pay Rs 10 crore and the licensee of offshore casino/vessel shall pay Rs 20 crore by challan and on production of the original counterfoil of such challan, the license shall be transferred in the name of new license holder.” The notification further stated that the license holder shall be liable to pay the annual recurring fee.

The notification was signed by Shrinet Kotwale (joint secretary for home department). Kotwale states that all license holders shall pay the annual recurring fees as specified for the financial year ending on March 31, 2018, within 30 days from the date of commencement of the notification.