Looks like Goa has not learnt its lessons on hosting electronic-dance-music (EDM) festivals in the State. After Percept Live, the organisers of popular EDM Sunburn and Viacom18’s Supersonic declined to pay government its dues for previous events, it was show-time for Timeout-72 Hours.
The government has shamelessly allowed itself to be fooled yet again by organisers of EDMs. This time around, the organisers of Timeout-72 Hours have disappeared without paying state government’s share of GST and also the value-added-tax on alcohol sold during the event, the deadline for which was January 22. Further on, there have been no details shown on tickets sold during the December 27-29 event, and much after the event has concluded, the government has been sitting counting numbers from online portals like paytm and bookmyshow.com to get a fair idea of the headcount.
The government is now banking on the Rs 1.5 crore post-dated cheques kept as security deposit by the organisers with the Tourism Department. This sounds wishful thinking given the fact that the organisers are untraceable with notices returned without any comment, a clear indication that they are not interested in paying their taxes. Given this background there is very little hope that the post-dated cheques will be honoured. This brings to the fore a crucial question on how the government allowed post-dated cheques as security deposit when asking for a demand draft could have been a much more secure option.
On the flip side, the government is unable to put systems in place to expedite applications, giving enough time to the organisers to plan their events. Last year too, the organisers of Timeout-72 hours were seen struggling with approvals at the eleventh hour, throwing the entire sales and marketing in complete disarray. Percept Live had earlier written to the government seeking clarity on issues despite not clearing the previous dues. In this case too, the authorities took endless time to decide on the EDM, forcing the organizers to shelve their reentry into Goa and look elsewhere.
Tourism Minister Babu Azgaonkar has evinced keen interest in EDMs, but it is not this type of music that forms the ethos of Goa as portrayed by him. EDMs are more of stage-work, lighting, visuals and pyrotechnics and are only targeted towards entertaining the hordes of tourists, including the domestic ones. While selling Goa as a party destination, these festivals become a value add-on. EDMs are certainly a tourist attraction but the government should put systems in place and come out with a clear policy so that there are no glitches on either side of the fence.
