Delta Corp to take legal action against government of Goa

The casino operator says it will challenge an order to pay licence fees for period when its casinos were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

India.- Delta Corp has issued a statement announcing it will take legal action against the government of Goa. It intends to challenge the state government’s order for the payment of its licence fees for the years 2020 and 2021.

Delta Corp says that the company and its subsidiaries were not operational between April 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020, and between May 1, 2021, and September 30 2021 due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company stated: “The licence fees payable for this period were provided as an expense in the consolidated profit and loss account and financial results of the company for the relevant periods, though were not paid.

“As provisions were already made in the relevant accounts and financial statements for these payments, there is no impact on the profit and loss account or the financial position of the company or its subsidiaries. “Nevertheless, we will be pursuing our legal remedies against this order.”

The company had previously asked the government for a reduction in casino licence fees for the period of Covid-19 shutdown. Delta Corp was allowed to reopen its casinos in Goa for those who are fully vaccinated or provide a negative Covid-19 test in September 2021 but at limited capacity. Casinos fully reopened on March 7 this year.

For the quarter that ended June 30, Delta Corp posted gross revenue of Rs314.46 crore (US$39.4m). The figure was up 233 per cent year on year and up 16.5 per cent quarter on quarter. The company’s casino segment brought in Rs 250.72 crore (US$31.4m), up from Rs210.66bn (US$26.4m) in Q1 2022 and from Rs41.43m (US$5.2m) in the second quarter of last year.

The group’s online skill games segment brought in Rs43.83 crore (US$5.5m) while the hospitality sector brought in Rs19.91 crore (US$2.5m) – the latter up 103 per cent year on year and 18.5 per cent when compared to the previous quarter.

As for profits, the company posted an increase of 10.2 per cent quarter on quarter to Rs77.38 crore (US$9.7m). For the full fiscal year to March 31 2020, Delta Corp had reported revenue of Rs765.2 crore (US$100.5m), a rise of 48.4 per cent year-on-year.