The Goa Government’s financial crisis, as it reels from anunprecedented mining downturn is forcing it to extract revenues from othersectors like tourism which has served as crucial cash injectors into theeconomy. However its move to increase the license fee of ticketed parties by100% will cause ripples not just among big ticket event organisers, but in anarea where it will hurt politically- in villages where parties, dances andother events are help, especially during the season.
Undoubtedly the government needs to be pragmatic. But italso needs to be practical. This decision could have been tweaked a wee bit toclassify “ticketed parties,” rather than classify according to the number ofpeople attending them. As per this decision, the fee charged will be Rs 50,000for 501 to 1000 guests and Rs one lakh for, a thousand plus guests. There aretwo points of concern here. As it happens in casinos, many organisers willdevise means to hide the actual number of guests by getting in people withouttickets, because the business will come from the same of alcohol. The secondpoint is the sheer lopsidedness of the numbers where a party of 10,001 peopleand 20,000 people have the same license fee.
Instead, there should have been a greater stakeholderengagement to classify ticketed parties according to areas-urban and rural withdifferent free structures or more specific barometers like the quantum andbrand/quality of liquor stocked and /or the price of tickets. On the face ofit, the license fee for 2000 people paying Rs 7000 a ticket, for aSunburn event, and 1500 people paying Rs 50 per ticket for a village dance willbe the same. While Rs 1 lakh is small change for the Sunburn organisers, itmight take a small party organiser in Raia out of business.
It is absolutely legit for the government to raise revenuesand it will obviously map sectors like tourism from revenue is guaranteed, butit needs to study each decisions lot more carefully so that the concernsexpressed here are not just addressed but explained, thereby giving no scopefor disappointment and dismay.
Moreover with the season of giving and plenty on its way,certain harsh pills should be sweetened or at least postponed by 40 odd days,to tide over Christmas and the first week of the new year 2013.
