DUE to a law that was not renewed, Singapore’s two casinos collected about S$4.4 million more than was legally allowed between April and May 2024.
To enter casinos here, Singapore citizens and permanent residents previously needed to pay a daily entry levy of S$100 or an annual entry levy of S$2,000.
The levies were upped to S$150 and S$3,000 respectively on Apr 4, 2019, after the Casino Control (Variation of Entry Levies) Order 2019 came into effect.
But the Order was only valid for five years until Apr 3, 2024.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) overlooked its expiry date, the casinos collected higher entry levies than were permitted by law between Apr 4 and May 7.
On Aug 6, MHA revealed the oversight in a press release regarding the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament that day.
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MHA said it had always intended to maintain the higher entry levies beyond the five-year period, noting that the levies serve as a social safeguard to deter casual and impulse gambling.
But MHA said it had overlooked the expiry of the 2019 Order, causing the entry levies to revert to the lower rates on Apr 4, 2024.
MHA said: “We have tightened our processes to avoid a repeat of such an incident.”
It introduced a new Order on May 8 to prospectively restore the daily and annual levies to the higher rates.
One of the intents of the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill is to validate the higher entry levies collected during the one-month lapse.
The Straits Times has asked MHA what will happen to the extra levies collected.
In response to media queries, MHA said the number of Singapore citizens and permanent residents who visited the casinos in 2023 constitute only around 3 per cent of the Singapore adult population.
Overall, the probable problem and pathological gambling rates among Singapore residents have been low and stable at about 1 per cent, said MHA.
It added: “There are no plans to increase the entry levy, for now. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of our social safeguards, and make changes when necessary.” THE STRAITS TIMES
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