Goa’s largest land-based casino catches break from high court

Casinos in the Indian state of Goa are discovering that justice is something of a moving target.

On Wednesday, Indian media reported that Goa’s state government had shut down the Casino Strikes operation in the Grand Hyatt hotel in the town of Brambolim due to the casino operator’s failure to pay its new license fee by the government’s May 8 deadline.

In March, the government announced steep increases in license fees for the state’s shipboard and land-based casinos. Two land-based casinos shut down rather than pay the fees, while others tried to convince the government to let them offer live table games (like those available on the floating casinos) to help soften the financial impact of the fees.

The government rejected these deal-making attempts and demanded the fees be paid by May 1, later extending that deadline to May 8. When Casino Strikes operator, Goan Hotels & Realty Pvt Ltd, failed to pay up by this extended deadline, the government shut down its casino, the state’s biggest land-based operation.