HUBLI: The State Government has submitted a proposal to the Centre for amending the Lottery Regulation Act 1998, seeking uniform rules with regard to the number of draws conducted regularly.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, H. Chittaranjan, Director, Department of Lotteries and Small Savings, said that because of the ambiguity in the provisions of the Act, some northeastern States are conducting draws till 8.30 p.m.

The State Government conducts draws of lotteries from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., whereas Nagaland, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh conduct draws till 8.30 p.m. There is lot of confusion regarding the provisions of the Act, and since the lottery tickets of the northeastern States are also sold in Karnataka, there is a need for amendment to the Act, he said.

Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh and Minister for Science and Technology, Small Savings and Lotteries Basavaraj Horatti have submitted a memorandum to senior officials of the Union Ministry of Finance seeking amendment to the Act, Mr. Chittaranjan said.

As per the State regulations, betting charges of Rs. 1 lakh for every normal draw and Rs. 1.5 lakhs for bumper draw have to be remitted to the State Government. Mysore Sales International Limited, that conducts draws in the State, has been regularly making these payments. But the northeastern States have appealed to High Court with regard to the betting charge and the court has directed them to pay Rs. 50,000 for every draw till the final judgment is delivered, he said.

Mr. Chittaranjan said that the States that run lotteries should remit the betting tax and appoint persons for the sale of lottery tickets. If the person who sells the lottery tickets of other States doesn't have the proper order, the police can take action against him.

Illegal sale

He said that the sale of Karnataka State lottery tickets in Hubli-Dharwad has increased from Rs. 87 lakhs to Rs. 3.87 crores owing to stringent measures taken by the police in curbing illegal sale of lottery tickets of other States and checking "matka" rackets.

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