By IANS,
New Delhi : Maharashtra will host a conference of lottery stakeholders next month to draw up effective and transparent measures to regulate the trade that currently earns the state governments Rs.2.5 billion.
The decision was taken at a high level meeting called here Wednesday by the home and finance ministries, an official said.
“It was emphasised at the meeting that banning lotteries was not the solution. Rather, the focus should be on putting in place a more effective and transparent regulatory measures,” the official added.
The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, meanwhile, has been asked to work out a revenue sharing model between lottery operators and the state governments.
Currently this is just one percent of gross sales but industry insiders say the revenue could rise to Rs.12.5 billion if the Rs.250 billion trade is properly regulated.
Representatives of the home, law and finance ministries, as also of the Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Nagaland government attended Wednesday’s meeting.
These states, as also Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal, are the only ones in the country where lotteries are permitted.
Amar Sinha of Pan India Network Infravest that runs the Playwin lottery brand immediately welcomed the move to strengthen the regulatory mechanism, saying it will help to improve the government’s revenues.
“This money can be used to fund social sector projects in the fields of education, healthcare and the welfare of senior citizens,” Sinha, whose company is part of Subhash Chandra’s $2 billion Essel Group, told IANS.
He pointed out that the All India Federation for Lottery, Gaming and Allied Industries had already submitted a memorandum to the government on the need for national-level regulation and for a level playing field.
“We have made six specific suggestions,” Sinha said.
These are:
* Fix minimum guaranteed revenue from gross sales,
* Include all forms of lotteries in the regulations (currently, online lotteries are excluded),
* Ensure all draws are conducted in a specified period of time (currently they are not),
* Ban draws on National Holidays,
* Create an entity like the Securities and Exchange Bureau of India to ensure transparency, and
* Fix prizes at a minimum of 50 percent and a maximum of ticket sales.
“Today’s meeting was a step in the right direction. We hope to see more movement forward in the coming months,” he said adding that ‘online gaming’ can earn government $300 million.