Is the Vietlott signboard store in Nghe An operating illegally?

(Baonghean.vn) – Not only operating illegally, the store hanging the Vietlott sign in Nghe An shows signs of operating against State regulations on computerized lottery business.

With the computerized lottery causing a fever, especially in the southern provinces when 4 people consecutively won prizes worth tens of billions of dong, many agents of Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company Limited (Vietlott) have pre-printed lottery tickets and then organized to sell them in provinces that have not yet installed terminal equipment. In Nghe An, the operation of the store hanging the Vietlott sign has many signs of violating the State's regulations.

Many customers came to buy pre-printed Vietlott lottery tickets at a store with a Vietlott sign on Nguyen Van Cu Street, Vinh City (Nghe An).

Specifically, according to Article 9, Circular 136/2013 of the Ministry of Finance on the method of distributing computerized lottery tickets, computerized lottery tickets are distributed in the following ways: Direct sale to customers via terminal devices; via landline and mobile phones; via the Internet. Pre-printing pairs of winning numbers for sale to customers is not in accordance with the characteristics of computerized lottery.

When buying pre-printed tickets, players lose the right to choose their own numbers, only randomly choosing tickets like buying traditional lottery tickets. These actions violate Articles 2, 9 and 10 of Circular No. 136 dated October 3, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the business of computerized lottery.

In addition, the fact that the store sells lottery tickets at a price higher than the price printed on the lottery ticket is also contrary to the provisions of Article 5, Decree 136/2013 of the Ministry of Finance, which stipulates that the value for one participation in the prize for each computerized lottery product is a maximum of 10,000 VND.

According to regulations, the act of selling pre-printed lottery tickets is causing loss of local budget revenue and violating Circular No. 01 dated January 2, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance.

According to regulations, Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company Limited is responsible for fully and accurately monitoring actual revenue generated in each province and centrally-run city to serve as a basis for allocating budget revenue from computerized lottery business activities according to regulations.

Determining actual revenue from the business of computerized lottery products is done through terminal equipment according to the lottery agency contract signed with Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company or the stores and ticket sales points established by Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company in the area.

Front and back of a pre-printed lottery ticket purchased at a Vietlott store in Nghe An.

For the method of distributing lottery tickets by computer via phone and internet: revenue is determined by the location where customers register to participate in the lottery. However, this store selling lottery tickets without a terminal is ignoring its obligations to the State budget.

Mr. Phan Tinh - Chairman and Director of Nghe An Lottery Company Limited said: "When Nghe An is approved to issue lottery tickets, the company will discuss and sign a contract with Vietlott to become an agent to distribute lottery tickets so that customers have the right to choose lottery tickets," said Mr. Tinh.

Through discussions with representatives of functional agencies such as the Department of Finance, Police, and Market Management, the answer received was that they did not yet understand the matter. To ensure the rights of the people, functional agencies need to conduct inspections soon, and if violations are discovered, they must be punished according to regulations.

Nguyen Hung