Govt lottery going online to combat ticket overpricing

Krungthai Bank will develop the platform, which will be free of charge for vendors and should be ready by May 2, said Lavaron Sangsnit, chairman of the Lottery Board.

Lavaron said the move will on Monday be proposed to the committee tasked with combating overpriced lottery tickets, chaired by Prime Minister's Office Minister Anucha Nakasai.

Sellers with quotas must consent to sell their tickets on the Digital Lottery platform, while the Government Lottery Office (GLO) will keep their real tickets.

"The tickets will disappear once they are purchased, while buyers will receive a receipt in the form of an electronic bill or SMS message," Lavaron explained. "The platform aims to boost sales channels for retailers and keep the ticket price at a maximum of 80 baht."

It will also enable retailers to reduce ticket prices close to the prize-announcement day, and allow them to sell all or only some of their quota online.

Lavaron said the platform will also aim to persuade retailers to sell their tickets via the GPO rather than other outlets.

He added that retailers will receive cash payment once their tickets are purchased, while buyers will be able to purchase as many as are available at 80 baht per ticket.

"Once the platform is launched, retailers who sell tickets on other [online] platforms will lose their quota immediately," he said, adding that over 9,000 retailers have lost their ticket quota this year. He added that these retailers can reregister for a quota, but they would be blacklisted if they sell their tickets on other platforms again.

A total of 878,000 sellers have registered for ticket quotas so far this month – almost double the 500,000 expected.

"Hence, we expect about 1 million people to apply by the time registration closes on January 31," Lavaron said. He added that it would take about two months to screen the remaining 200,000 registrants for eligibility but said the GLO will not extend its lottery quota or print more tickets if some registrants were rejected

Meanwhile, 4,790 sellers have registered for a new project to set up one lottery stall per district selling tickets at 80 baht.

"Of the 928 districts nationwide, sellers in 691 districts have already registered for the project, while 237 districts are still available."

He added that GLO will cooperate with police in screening sellers who receive their quota at post offices nationwide to prevent scalping which results in high ticket prices.