Nepal’s government has decided to include legislation to regulate casinos in the Tourism Act, rather than passing a separate law on casinos, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reports.
In a report published on Wednesday, the newspaper says the government had intended to pass a separate law regulating casinos that would streamline the industry. The bill was thought to encourage new investors to put their money into Nepal, amid expectations of a boom in the gaming industry. But the government is now inclined to have the Tourism Act cover casinos.
“The casino law will come out as an annex to the Tourism Act that the government is currently drafting,” the newspaper report quoted Tourism Secretary Krishna Prasad Devkota as saying.
Nepalese casinos are presently governed by the Casino Regulation 2013. The government felt at first that a separate law was needed to bring the present casinos into line, because many have been operating without paying taxes and royalties, on the strength of interim orders given by the Supreme Court, the newspaper says.
Nepal’s current legislation framework is seen by many as complex and with loopholes. A draft act was ready in June. The initial draft was said to have promoted “investment and employment in the industry”.
