E-Paper
State govt stumps police by giving heavy discount to associations of cash-rich BCCI
The Maharashtra government has given affiliated local bodies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) heavy discounts for police security charges for matches played in the state, including IPL matches. Charges have been reduced retrospectively from 2011, with T20 and IPL matches reduced to INR10 lakh ($13,300) from INR70 lakh per match, One Day Internationals to INR25 lakh from INR75 lakh and Test matches to INR25 lakh from INR60 lakh. The move has been criticised given that the BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world.
Strap: Applies reduced charges for providing security retrospectively from 2011 drastically reducing pending dues for matches played in last 12 years
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government, in every budget, gives details of how the money for development work is limited due to the liability of salary and pension of their employees. However, this very government also appears to believe that the affiliated local bodies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket body in the world with billions of dollars in annual revenue, require drastic discounts when it comes to paying the police for the security it provides to matches organised in the state.
The Shinde government has given the allied local bodies of the BCCI in the state, such as Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and others, a heavy discount in the charges for providing police security to its matches in Maharashtra.
Moreover, the state government has also decided to apply these charges with retrospective effect from 2011, thereby drastically reducing the pending dues for the matches played in the past 12 years.
As per the government order issued on June 26, the charges for police security fee of T20 and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches have been reduced to ₹10 lakh per match from ₹70 lakh per match. For One Day Internationals, the charges are reduced to ₹25 lakh from ₹75 lakh per match. For the Test match, earlier the charge was ₹60 lakh per match, which has been reduced to ₹25 lakh.
Last October, it was revealed in an RTI filed by activist Anil Galgali that the MCA had not paid arrears of ₹14.82 crore to the police for providing security to several matches, including ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Test matches, even after the police sent them about 35 reminders.
Apart from being the richest cricket body in the world, the BCCI also organises the second richest sports league in the world — the IPL — each match of which earns the board hundreds of crores of rupees in combined revenue.
“The new charges would be applicable for the matches played in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Navi Mumbai. These charges are going to be applicable from 2011. This order will nullify all the previous orders issued in 2016, 2017 and 2018,” stated the order issued by the home department. It also stated that the police can charge a maximum 25% extra for providing additional security.
In 2018, the state government had increased the police security charges for cricket matches in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra by ₹4 lakh to ₹9 lakh for different formats of the game and venues.
However, after that the charges were not revised by the state for the next four years and the new rate and their applicability had been pending for approval by the state government.
On Monday, the home department issued an order, which not only reduced the police security charges massively but also fixed flat rates applicable all over Maharashtra. During both the orders, Devendra Fadnavis was the home minister.
Discount bouncer
Maharashtra government on Monday announced heavy discount to BCCI’s associations in the state in charges for police security provided to matches organised in the state.
New structure of charges for police security to matches
T20 International/IPL: ₹10 Lakh per match
One Day International - ₹25 lakh per match
Test match (5 Days) - ₹25 lakh
In 2018, the charges were: (From 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019)
T-20 International match/IPL: ₹70 lakh per match for Mumbai and ₹50 lakh in rest of Maharashtra
One Day International: ₹75 lakh per match in Mumbai and ₹50 lakh in rest of Maharashtra
Test match (5 days): ₹60 lakh per match in Mumbai and ₹40 lakh per match in rest of Maharashtra
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Did you know?
In 2018, compared to 2017 charges of police security for T20 were increased by ₹4 lakh per match in Mumbai and by ₹6 lakh in the rest of Maharashtra. For ODI, the charges were increased by ₹9 lakh in Mumbai and by ₹6 lakhs in the rest of Maharashtra. For test matches, the charges were increased by ₹5 lakh in Mumbai and by ₹2.50 lakh in the rest of Maharashtra.
