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: state. Of the 11 lottery promoting states, each earns 1-6% on the sales (1% as direct commission and the rest as administrative costs) while the balance, 10%-30% is split between the lottery distributor, sub-distributors and retailers.

“In the US, which is one of the biggest lottery promoting markets in the world, the split comes to 40-50% to the winner; 15-20% for the middlemen (operating costs) and the balance to the beneficiaries/states,” explains Dr Usman Fayaz, president of All India Federation of Lotteries and Allied Industries (AIFLTAI), a national-level representative body of lottery distributors, stockists, agents etc.

“Since, profits are really small in India (5%-6%) when compared to the US (30-45%), the industry is highly fragmented, and non transparent. Regulated better, it could accrue significant sums not just to the players, distributors and retailers, but also to some cash-strapped, geographically disadvantaged states like Megalaya and Mizoram,” he adds.

A good example of this is a new sports lottery that the State Lotteries Directorate in Kerela to fund the development of a new sports infrastructure. “A less regulated market would see better products, more variety and better profile of players,” says Playwin’s Amar Sinha. Pre-sently, since the cost of entry is so low (some lottery tickets are priced as low as Rs to 5 in India), players lar-gely come from a particular category (SEC C, D) who, because of the possibility of high payout, become addicted to the games.

Under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998, lotteries are played in just 11 states (Aruna-chal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal). “It represents one of the major economic activities, providing employment to over 2 million people,” says Fayaz.

“Lately the online format is becoming very popular in India and paper lotteries are beginning to lose some of their shine, mainly because the online format is more transparent and easy to operate. The ease is for everybody: the player, the lottery operator and the government,” explains Kamlesh Vijay of Sugal and Damani.

Further, while all paper lotteries can be transferred to an online format, the vice versa is not true. For instance, shifting Lotto 6/49 or Bingo into paper format could be a cumbersome exercise although these are gradually becoming very popular.