SMS Lottery Launched in India
Mobile phone service provider Orange on Dec. 30 said it had introduced an SMS-based lottery called "mobile lotto" in Mumbai, India.
The lottery is being operated with assistance from a company called Xius and its associates, which include companies E-labs and Cibernet India. A group called Playwin Infravest is also participating in the venture.
Florida Salvation Army Turns Down Lottery Winnings
The Salvation Army branch in Naples, Fla., made news on Jan. 2 by refusing to accept a $100,000 donation from a man who won the money by playing the Florida Lottery.
The lottery winner, David Rush, 71, hit the jackpot on Dec. 14 and won a lump sum of $14.3 million. Maj. Cleo Damon, a representative of the Naples Salvation Army, which is a Christian charity, said the group could not accept money that was associated with gambling.
"There are times when Major Damon is counseling families who are about to become homeless because of gambling," said a spokeswoman for the group. "He really believes that if he had accepted the money, he would be talking out of both sides of his mouth."
Rush also made contributions to Habitat for Humanity and the Rotary Club of Marco Island.
"Everybody has a right to be sanctimonious if they want to be," he said. "I respect the Salvation Army's decision. I do not agree with it, but that is their prerogative."
WLA Elects New Executive Committee Members
In December, the World Lottery Association Executive Committee made a number of new appointments. The group elected Svenska Spel CEO Meg Tiveus as a member of the executive committee, and re-elected Reidar Norby Jr. as the president of the group. Norby is with Norsk Tipping of Norway.
Ray Bates, formerly of the European State Lotteries and Toto Association was also selected as an Executive Committee member. Edward J. Stanek of the Iowa Lottery was elected senior vice president, and Winifried Wortmann of Westdeutsche Lotterie in Germany was elected vice president.
Other members who were elected to the committee included Ray Bates of the An Post National Lottery in Ireland, Christophe Blanchard-Dignac of the La Francaise des Jeux in France and Makoto Kobayashi of the Japan Lottery Association.
Tax Changes for the National Lottery?
The operator of the United Kingdom's National Lottery is asking the government to change the method by which it is taxed, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 16.
Camelot Group plc, which has the government contract to run the National Lottery, would like to see the 12 pence tax on each £1 lottery ticket ended in favor of a tax on gross profits. The group said sales were down 5 percent for the six months to Sept. 30 and that pre-tax profit was down by 22 percent.
Other types of betting companies now pay taxes on gross profits instead of individual wagers as per a change in government policy last year. Camelot said it would to be taxed the same way as the rest of the betting industry.
Pan-European Lottery Could Become Reality
In addition to looking for tax changes, the National Lottery is also planning to launch a Europe-wide lottery with a jackpot of about £9.6million.
Camelot said in December that the pan-European lottery will be introduced first in the United Kingdom, France and Spain, assuming that it gains approval from regulators. The lottery would have a Friday night drawing and will be called Euromillions.
Cost of entry will be two euros or the English equivalent for the game, which could begin as soon as the first quarter of 2004. Camelot said other European lotteries will be invited to join in.
Company Ponders Peruvian Lottery Investment
The lottery company Loteria de Concepcion is reportedly considering investing between $12 million to $18 million to get its foot in the door of Peru's lottery market, which is worth $40 million annually.
The company told the El Diario news service that it would like to embark on the project with a partner and that it is contemplating buying Tinka, a local Peruvian lottery.