To describe the situation regarding the land-based casino gambling industry in Nepal as a right Royal mess might be a tremendous understatement. If you thought that the only way you might end up gambling was with your life on the high slopes of Mount Everest then you’d be wrong.
Since the 1990s there’s been a rather large casino industry in the small Asian country, with the amount of premises in the country numbering seven. The Nepalese Recreation Centre (NRC) has had the monopoly over the entire industry since it began in the early 90s, but since an Indian man by the name of Rakesh Wadhwa relinquished control of them from an American, Richard Tuttle, in 2007, it’s all gone rather pear shaped.
First off Raj Bahadur Singh, the son-in-law of deposed king Gyanendra, threw NRC out of the country’s best-known casino, Casino Royale, for non-payment of rent, meaning Singh began to run it himself. The Shangri-la was the next venue to successfully sue NRC, looking to take over the premises after another rent row. Now the state itself has caught up with NRC, demanding payment of royalties amounting to NRS 193 million.
If they aren’t paid within 30 days, it could leave an industry that employs 7,000 Nepalese and worth billions of dollars, in tatters. Should have stayed by your computers, people!
