Web shop operators who are invited to apply for licenses will be required to pay a non-refundable $100,000 deposit for a gaming house operator license, plus $30,000 for each gaming house premises license they apply for, according to the request for proposals (RFP) document tabled in the House of Assembly last week.
The RFP says this money would go to "cover initial investigation costs".
A premises license would be required for every individual web shop an operator has as a part of its overall business. The investigation cost is separate from the application fee, which is $5,000, plus $2,000 for each Gaming House Premises License applied for.
The money, in the form of a bank-guaranteed check or other banking instrument, should accompany the proposals of each applicant, once the application process begins, or the application will be returned unopened.
According to the RFP, the applicants will also be responsible for any further costs and expenses for the required investigations into the applications, which would be conducted by the Gaming Board.
The proposal would include an executive summary that details the business plan, financial strategy, project viability, managerial experience and details about how the operation would benefit the economy and the community.
As a part of the proposal, operators would also have to carry out an analysis of the market potential of licensed gaming house operations and provide the results.
Details of the measures operators would take to secure equipment and cash on the premises are also required. Operators will further be required to give detailed descriptions of their disaster recovery plans and the methods of protecting data contained on players' accounts, among other things.
According to the RFP, operators are expected to help to enhance the environment around their operations and explain how they intend to do so.
And, as previously noted, operators who are awarded Gaming House Operator Licenses would be required to make ongoing minimum donations toward various initiatives as a part of their agreements.
"Accordingly, in their proposals, applicants are required to make a commitment to contribute a minimum amount of one percent of taxable revenue to corporate social investment initiatives in The Bahamas for the duration of the license and a further one percent of taxable revenue towards the additional community benefits for the duration of the license," the RFP states.
The operators will be obligated to provide the "infrastructure or the implementation of initiatives to promote and or sustain or further develop any combination of two more of the following": educational facilities or opportunities, charitable or social causes, healthcare facilities, public parks, beaches, botanical gardens and green spaces, sports, arts and culture or any other measure, project or initiative aimed at improving the general well being of the community.
Government officials have estimated web shop operators' taxable revenue to be between $22 million and $29 million annually.
Based on those projected, each operator would be expected to invest between $222,000 and $229,000 in projects that would benefit the community. They would also be required to invest the same amount in social investment initiatives.
As previously reported, the operators will also have to introduce measures to promote responsible gaming.
Web shops will be taxed at a rate of 11 percent and will be required to pay a quarter of a million dollars annually for license and monitoring fees, in addition to separate license fees for essentially all of their employees, according to the 2014 Gaming House Operator Regulations.
Web shop operators whose businesses have a gross turnover of less than $5 million will be required to pay a penalty of $350,000 in lieu of taxes that could not be collected when they were operating outside the act, and businesses whose gross turnover exceeds $5 million will be required to pay a penalty of $750,000 for the same reason.
The Gaming Bill and accompanying regulations were passed in the House of Assembly last Monday.
Once the bill and regulations are passed in the Senate and enacted, the government will issue the RFPs to qualified applicants, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said.
The Senate is expected to debate the legislation today.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian