GLO to issue another 30m digital lottery tickets to combat overpricing
The number of lottery tickets sold online for each draw will be increased by at least 30 million this year, the Government Lottery Office (GLO) said on Thursday.
The GLO began selling tickets via the Pao Tang app in June last year in a bid to combat lottery overpricing.
The face value of government lottery tickets is 80 baht, but tickets with sought-after “lucky” numbers are often resold at much higher prices in the off- and online grey market.
So far, the GLO appears powerless to prevent overpricing and other violations in the grey market that has sprung up to exploit the government lottery.
At least two major private online platforms selling lottery tickets are currently under investigation over allegations that include overpricing, money laundering and false advertising. Among them is the operator of Kong Salak Plus lottery platform, which has been charged with reselling tickets at inflated prices.
On Thursday, the GLO insisted that all tickets are being sold by more than 30,000 retailers at 80 baht apiece.
Meanwhile, winners who buy tickets through the Pao Tang app will receive their cash prizes in their bank accounts within two hours, it said.
The quota for each lottery vendor is now three sets of printed tickets per draw, or five sets if they sell digital tickets, it added.
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