India’s only listed gaming operator, Delta Corp, is seeking to overturn a Bombay High Court decision that dismissed its request for a license to “install games of electronic amusement/slot machines at the Deltin Hotel.”
The Deltin Hotel is located in Daman, India, and is one of two hotel properties operated by Delta Corp. The group’s Deltin Suites in Goa houses a land-based casino and “also serves as a preferred accommodation for members visiting Delta Corp’s offshore casinos,” while Deltin is a “a standalone five-star resort,” despite being envisioned as a casino-hotel.
Delta Corp holds three of the six offshore gaming licenses issued in Goa and operates the country’s two largest offshore casinos – Deltin Royale and Deltin JAQK.
The Bombay High Court on 29 April had “dismissed” the group’s application to install slot machines at its hotel property in Daman, with the group on 22 July noting that it had “filed a Special Leave Petition” before the Supreme Court of India against the High Court’s rejection.
Delta Corp has been facing an uphill battle overall after India’s Supreme Court in May ruled that games of skill such as poker, fantasy sports and rummy constitute gambling, upholding a position that taxes on such activities should be paid retrospectively.
Delta Corp in 2023 received a notice of tax liabilities from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in Hyderabad on an alleged shortfall in tax amounting to Rs11,400 crore (US$1.34 billion) – roughly three times its total market cap.
The move resulted in the suspension of a US$285 million integrated resort project in Goa until Delta receives more clarity on the GST situation.
In March, the group was also slapped with another US$188 million order from the Office of the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Government of Goa, for alleged short payment of GST.
India has taken a particularly strong stance on gaming operations in the nation recently, with the GST issue causing massive shockwaves across the industry and resulting in the exit of multiple companies from the jurisdiction. India’s casino regulation falls under each state’s purview, only being legal in Goa, Daman and Sikkim.
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