PANAJI: The Casino Association of Goa (CAG), which is agitating for a reduction in the entry fees, does not endorse the government view that there has been a 2.5 fold increase in revenues from the casinos due to the increase in entry fee.

"This comparison is not true, as it was made about revenue collected from 13 casinos operational as on date of which 4 are offshore," says Mr Raghuvir Kuncoliencar, director - Finance Goan Carnival and Leisure Pvt Ltd, a company which runs two casinos in Goa. Incidentally, CAG is a registered association which has both onshore and offshore casino operators as its members.

Being more specific, he said, the booklets purchased from the commercial taxes department containing the entry tickets of Rs 2,000 each, has come down to two or three booklets a week, from the average of 10 booklets a week when the entry fees was Rs 200, prior to September 2009.

Casino operators were issued licenses by the state government with the sole purpose to promote Goa’s tourism.  To lure visitors, the casino operators advertised in a big way in national and international dailies to lure visitors. The real story is all the visitors refuse to pay such an exorbitant fee to enter and in order to survive, the casinos had no option but to bear the entry fee and this has affected their bottom line.

Based on the recent report that Marriot Hotel entry tax revenue has increased from Rs 33 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore, if we apply the 10 fold increase formula, then it should have been Rs 12.50 crore, this clearly indicates Marriot’s footfalls has been down from 16,500 to 6,250, a simple equation by just dividing Rs 33 lakh by Rs 200 and then by Rs 1.25 crore by  Rs 2,000. The government claiming a revenue of Rs 1.25 crore, actually shows a footfall of only 6,250 visitors.

Inspite of the recession, till August last year casinos played a dominant role in attracting more tourist visitors to Goa, said Mr Xavier Vaz, a member of CAG. Quoting figures from the commercial taxes department he said from June to August 2009, when the entry fees was Rs 200 the visitor entry to casinos was  90,100 and from September to December when the entry fees was Rs 2000, the visitor entry dwindled to  15,685. Mr Vaz pleaded for an immediate reduction in the Rs 2000 entry fee of casinos and also requested for non imposition of any new taxes or levy on the casino industry of Goa.