If at all the current case against an ex minister and another, facing charges of assaulting casino staff way back in 2009, throws up any questions, at least some should concern the way disputes are settled in Goa’s casinos. In the instant case, the dispute was reportedly about betting limits and rates.
The fact is that Goa’s four operational offshore and nine onshore casinos have been functioning for years without adequate rules and a gaming commissioner. The situation has continued to be the same, all the rhetoric notwithstanding. Nearly a decade ago, one recalls a home department official talking about rules being framed to appoint a gaming commissioner etc. In 2012, the present government amended the Goa Daman and Diu Public Gambling (Prevention) Act, 1976 to debar Goans and those below 21 years from gambling on the casinos. By 2015 end, the draft rules have just been readied, the media are told, and these will provide for the said commissioner, who is to have staff to monitor activity and disputes on the casinos.
Casino managers meanwhile claim they are already implementing the bar on those below 21 years, one presumes to the gaming area, since casino entertainment is advertised for the entire family. The industry is not so sanguine about the proposed bar on Goans, if and there is a big if, that should actually come to pass, given the laggardly nature of implementation of legislation against this one particular industry.
According to one operations manager of a land based casino in a city five star hotel, locals make up a quarter of the customer base visiting the betting machines. So that is reason enough for their dislike of the proposal. For families and parents who face a cash crunch and a gambling addiction issue, the reality is starkly different, and a rule like this may offer some hope.
From all indications though, there is clearly a hands-off approach being followed by the authorities when it comes to casinos. In 2014, the government was asked if it “has any account of the amount of monies won by the gamers in the casinos,“ to which it replied that it “does not keep the records as the same is not covered in the Act”. It was also asked whether “the casinos follow a minimum payout ratio”, to which it replied that “no such information is available in this department (home) as it is not covered under the present Act”. “Inspections are carried out at the time of grant/renewal of license, and as and when required,” went one specific reply, to a query if there were checks carried out to ensure that norms under the Prevention of Gambling Act were being followed.
That year, the fourteen casinos (operational at the time) were employing around 3000 people, locals and others included. In 2014-15 the government officially said it earned Rs 86.20 cr from the industry. In three years from April 2012 to July 2015, it earned a cumulative Rs 218.31 cr from application, renewal, transfer, annual recurring, annual room fees and security deposits it levies on the industry. There are various estimates on the number of people that visit casinos. One recent report suggested 15,000 persons visit the tables and machines each day. Official information on entry tickets sold and furnished to the legislature for 2013-14 though suggest that roughly 39,000 entry tickets were sold a month during that period.
Some would suggest that of far greater import than the numbers of visitors and revenue generated, is the trajectory that the state is following. There are some who worry with some cause, that the Thailand model may become the dreaded reality in the long run for a place like Goa. Major players in the industry have already given statements that there is a huge demand to increase gambling capacity in Goa, and the state could easily be turned into a Singapore and Macau. How does that go down with the populace, is something that should come to the fore, considering that it is insidiously becoming the reality.
The local hotel industry that has long based their marketing on Goa as a safe family destination are riled at the emerging scenario. Goa’s positioning in the tourism marketplace is under threat, according to them. The casino industry have the marketing muscle, skill, deep pockets and knowhow that they’ve picked from once selling destinations like Nepal, to dominate the advertising and marketing pitch of Goa. The visible imagery of tourist Goa, is increasingly the dominant and alluring imagery of casinos and gambling, right from the airport onwards. The traditional segment is counting on the fact that Goa’s administrators have thus far committed to keeping the number of licenses static and casinos will stay limited. But will it? Limited licenses have not stopped larger ships with increased capacity from entering the Mandovi. Three hotels are already given over almost entirely to casinos. The casino segment are picking up land and investing in hotels --- a sign that the industry is putting down its roots here, according to one analysis.
All this, while politics has wavered and crumbled under its influence.
