Despite legal prohibitions against gambling, lottery-style games are flourishing on the Internet, where players can purchase tickets without being in the same room as the vendor. A few sites, such as GTech Corporation, claim to handle 70 percent of worldwide online lottery business. These services generally charge premiums on base lottery ticket prices, making them more expensive than the official products sold at brick-and-mortar lotteries. They have also been the target of lawsuits and government investigations.
Several countries have national lotteries, while others allow private businesses to run them. A number of these are regulated by the state, but many are not. The largest is the Spanish lottery, which is operated by Loterias y Apuestas del Estado and offers a top prize of up to EUR2.4 billion annually.
New Zealand’s state-run lotteries are controlled by an autonomous Crown entity called Lotto New Zealand. The entity distributes its profits to charities and community organizations, including Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Creative New Zealand, and the Lottery Grants Board. Its four games include Lotto, Powerball and Strike, Keno, and Instant Kiwi scratch card games. Its prizes are not taxed.
The official state-run lottery in Liechtenstein is the International Lottery Foundation (ILLF). The ILLF pioneered Internet gaming, launched the first online lottery and processed the first-ever online gaming transaction, and supports charitable projects and organizations domestically and internationally. Its online platforms include the PLUS Lotto and EuroMillions brands.
In Laos, the government has moved to address growing complaints about corruption and rigging in the country’s legal state lottery. On Aug. 17, the office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith sent a directive to the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the lottery, asking it to work with the Ministry of Public Security on the issue. Among other things, the directive says state lottery drawing sessions should be reduced to one per week and winnings must be handled in a more transparent manner. It also orders the ministry to shut down informal football lotteries and lottery chances purchased via short messaging service.
The directive has not yet taken effect, but some locals are already calling for the state to regain control of the lottery system. A state lottery official who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity said a number of private business interests have been involved in the operation and management of the lottery, and that many of these companies are owned by people with connections to the ruling elite. “The state should resume control of the lottery because private business interests shouldn’t be responsible for a national lottery,” he said.