Maharashtra government okays steep cut in police security fees for cricket matches in state

The Maharashtra government has drastically slashed the fees to be paid for providing police security for cricket matches in the state with a retrospective effect from 2011.
In 2018, the police bandobast or security fee in Mumbai was Rs 70 lakh for a T20 match, Rs 75 lakh for an ODI (One-day International) and Rs 60 lakh for a Test match.
As per the Maharashtra government order (GO) issued on June 26, the police bandobast fee for T20 /IPL matches will be Rs 10 lakh (per match) and the same for each ODI tie will be Rs 25 lakh and Rs 24 lakh for each five-day Test match.
Additional bandobast charges will be considered based on threats but that amount will not be more than 25 per cent of the fee fixed for a particular match, the GO said.
Permission of state DGP (Director General of Police) should be taken for charging the additional fee which will be applicable for the bandobast inside and outside stadiums.
The order also stated that new fees were fixed for 2019 to 2024 and the period of their implementation was under consideration the government, which has now decided to implement the new fee structure with a retrospective effect from 2011.

The fee should be deposited within a month after a cricket match is played and the failure to do so will attract a penalty of 9.5 per cent, the order said.