Mexican Lottery Officials Halt Online Plans
GTECH Holdings announced last week that officials with Mexican lottery operator Pronosticos para la Asistencia Publica have put plans to implement an online lottery on hold after controversy among the competing companies to supply the system.
GTECH had initially won the bid to be the online vendor for Pronosticos last month, but the Mexican Comptroller Ministry ruled that the bid was declared non-compliant and disqualified.
The ruling was made after unsuccessful competitors failed to win the bid to supply Pronosticos with the online system. Pronosticos announced it disqualified the sole remaining bidder as also being non-compliant and formally ended the procurement process after the ruling was announced.
GTECH President and CEO W. Bruce Turner said his company was exploring other legal options to keep the Mexican deal alive.
"It is our belief that GTECH submitted a fully compliant bid to Pronosticos that is in the best interest of the lottery," Turner said. "We intend to pursue all appropriate avenues available to us to contest the Comptroller's decision in this matter. We have been advised that we have very strong grounds to challenge this decision."
GTECH's bid was disqualified because it was determined that a section of the proposal concerning the methodology for the calculation of revenues, in the event that the government decided to apply a value-added tax to lottery tickets, was deemed to be conditional in nature and therefore not compliant with the provisions of the request for proposals.
High Court in India Bans Sale of Lottery Tickets
The Kerala High Court in India last week upheld a ban on the sale of lottery tickets, including online ones, in Kerala.
The ruling was handed down after the Director of State Lotteries issued the impugned public notice dated Nov. 8, 2003, banning sale of other state lotteries. A single judge had ruled in favor of the director, and a higher bench upheld the ruling on appeal.
The court ruled that wording in the Lotteries and On-Line Lotteries Regulation Rules require prior sanction from the secretary of the taxes department for marketing lotteries in Kerala, and empower enforcement agencies to seize lotteries conducted without permission.
The division bench further held that the lottery operators were bound to comply with all the provisions of the Lotteries Regulation Act and Rules while marketing lotteries within Kerala.
Ohio Officials Not Open to Online Sales
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say the Ohio Lottery would see an increase of more than $1.18 billion in revenues over five years if sold tickets over the Internet.
The research was funded by Cincinnati-based Games Inc., which controls the www.lottery.com site and has worked for years to become a state lottery retailer. Games wants a share of a $42 billion national lottery market and will use the study to argue that allowing Internet sales would create new dollars for the state that otherwise might go to casinos or other entertainment.
The study also showed that not only would lottery sales be increased, but education funding in the state would see an influx of $376 million as a direct result of the growth in sales.
Lottery officials maintain that Internet sales are not an option.
College Student Bilked out of $18K
Online scam artists took an Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis student for $18,000 after the thought he had won an Internet sweepstakes lottery.
Police on the Indianapolis campus say the 28-year-old man sent the money via e-mail, telephone and fax over several weeks in pursuit of what he thought would be a big payoff.
He told IUPUI police he received a winning notification from a "Euro America" sweepstakes that promised him a payoff if he sent money to process the awarding of the lottery prize.
The case prompted campus police to issue an alert last week to make other students aware of the deception.
Oregon Lottery Goes High-Tech
Lottery Officials in Oregon rolled out a new high-tech ticket last month that gives players games on a computer disc instead of a paper ticket.
The new game, "Click and Play," rolled out last month, but came under fire after some consumers claimed the program reeked havoc on their computer systems.
One user said the first disk she put into her computer caused it to break down, and she had to reprogram her machine. She then tried the game with another disk, which eventually totally fried her computer.
Chuck Baumann of the Oregon Lottery said reports have been numerous after launching the game.
"The manufacturer is reprinting all half a million discs that they had printed for us originally," he said in a statement. "They are reprinting those at no cost to the lottery."
The Oregon Lottery is covering the damage done to the user's computer as well.