Maharashtra slashes security fees for cricket matches

The Maharashtra government passed a resolution on June 28 slashing the fee to be provided to provide security during cricket matches in the state.

Earlier, police personnel used to charge Rs 70 lakhs for an international T-20 match or IPL match in Mumbai, while they would charge Rs 50 lakhs in other districts of Maharashtra. The rates have now been slashed to Rs 10 lakhs per match.

On the other hand, for Test and One Day International matches the rates have been slashed to Rs 25 lakhs from Rs 75 lakhs and Rs 60 lakhs, respectively, for matches played in Mumbai. The rate slash is to be implemented across the state where outside of Mumbai, security rates for Tests and ODIs were Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 40 lakhs, respectively.

According to RTI activist Anil Galgali’s RTI filed in October last year, the Mumbai Cricket Association owed the police Rs 14.82 crores for the security provided by them for major cricket tournaments. The RTI said that Mumbai Police had written to the MCA around 35 times seeking the overdue amount.

Galgali also said, “The government resolution has granted this bumper discount with retrospective effect from 2011 onwards, granting another gift of 13 crores to an entity that has been in government arrears for more than a decade.”