Sub-letting: Tourism dept directs 23 shack operators to shut shop

Panaji: Cracking a whip against the violators of the Goa State Shack Policy 2023-26, the Tourism Department has issued orders to 23 shack operators to close down their shacks for allegedly sub-letting the same.

The department had carried out a thorough inspection drive across beach shacks to check for violations of the policy. 

“The licences of these shack allottees have been terminated due to sub-letting, and they will not be allowed to conduct any activity under Goa State Shack Policy 2023-26,” said Tourism Department director Kedar Naik.

The Tourism Department said that based on the reports of the inspection drive, a total of 110 show cause notices were issued to the violators, of which, proceedings in 54 matters have been concluded. Of these, 31 notices were disposed of as no violations were noticed while 23 operators were directed to close down their shacks. Among those required to shut down, six are non-Goans.

“During inspections, it was found that POS/UPI payments at the beach shack were conducted under the name of individuals, who were not the original allottees and had no blood relation with them. Additionally, there was placement of deck beds without licence numbers painted on them, and no GST registration was found,” the department said.

Accordingly, the department issued an order terminating the shack licences allotted to the concerned operators, directing the immediate cessation of all activities conducted by the allottees under the Goa State Shack Policy 2023-2026, forfeiting the security deposit submitted by the allottees to the government treasury and instructing the allottees to remove the beach shacks within 15 days from the date of the order.

“In ensuring procedural fairness, personal hearings were granted to all parties concerned before finalising any decisions. The Tourism Department remains committed to promoting a transparent and well-regulated tourism environment that aligns with the policy. These steps have been taken to maintain the integrity of Goa’s vibrant tourism sector and ensure a fair operating environment for all stakeholders,” it said