Category Archives: Lottery

CT Lottery chief questioned by lawmakers over mishaps, computerized drawings

State lawmakers grilled Connecticut Lottery Corp. officials Thursday at a legislative hearing about long-running controversies including their alleged retaliation against former lottery security chief Alfred W. DuPuis, who says he was the victim of a vendetta for raising questions in 2015 about the fraud-plagued 5 Card Cash game, and their alleged lack of cooperation with the state Department of Consumer Protection that regulates them.Legal, Connecticut, Error, Technology, Poker, Computerized Drawings, Investigation, Government, Television, Raffle, Drawing, Lawsuit

Ireland’s lottery retailers fail underage mystery shopper test

Ireland’s national lottery operator is wearing egg on its face after regulators found that more than one-third of underage residents could purchase lottery products.

On Wednesday, Irish media reported that the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) had tasked Ipsos MRBI with conducting a mystery shopper test in which individuals under the age of 18 years were sent to 510 Irish National Lottery retailers to see if they could purchase lottery scratch cards.

The test, which was conducted last summer and involved subjects as young as 15, found that 37% of lottery retailers agreed to sell these underage customers scratch cards. The regulator hastened to add that the tests only went as far as getting the retailer to commence the sale process, and that no scratch cards were actually purchased by these babes in the lottery woods.

The test also found that 27% of lottery retailers failed to display the required signage indicating that lottery purchases were limited to customers 18 years or older. Only half (51%) of shops lacking signage refused the underage purchase requests, compared with 67% in shops displaying the required signage.

India’s GST Council to consider adjusting lottery tax rates

Lotteries in India are always a sensitive subject. Going back a number of years, there have been conflicts over sales, revenue and non-payment of taxes. Now, the country’s GST (Goods and Service Tax) Council, in its first meeting of the year a week ago, is recommending that the government create a new panel to review GST rates, as well as all tax issues that arise from the sale of lottery tickets.

The council wants the group to be comprised of state ministers. It will include eight ministers and would be led by the Finance Minister of Maharashtra, Sudhir Mungantiwar. Joining him in the so-called Group of Ministers (GoM) will be West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra; Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac; Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma; Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal; Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho; Karnataka Finance Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Arunachal Tax and Excise Minister Jarkar Gamlin.

The GST Council laid out its Terms of Reference (ToR) for the panel, stating that one of the goals will be to determine if the current dual tax structure of existing state-authorized and state-run lotteries should be continued, or if a new, uniform rate could be implemented for both. The ToR also stipulates that the GoM determine whether private individuals appointed by the states are abusing the lower rate for their own financial benefit, depriving the jurisdictions of their rightful share of the profits. The group would need to formulate plans to prevent any possible abuse.

The GoM will also probably be tasked with examining issues regarding the enforcement of lottery rules, including the possible creation of a legal framework, that could be used to prevent lottery tax evasion. One of the possibilities to aid in that prevention could be the creation of a single tax rate that would make it easier to track sales and revenue.