What does the Ministry of Finance say about the opinion "if you can't manage it, then ban" online lottery ticket sales and lottery ticket purchasing services?

ANTD.VN - The Ministry of Finance has just responded to opinions that state management agencies "cannot manage, so they prohibit" the buying and selling of lottery tickets online and buying lottery tickets on behalf of others.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance once again affirmed that lottery business is a conditional business line according to the provisions of the Investment Law and Government Decrees (Decree No. 30/2007/ND-CP dated March 1, 2007 of the Government on lottery business, Decree No. 78/2012/ND-CP dated October 5, 2012 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 30/2007/ND-CP dated March 1, 2007 of the Government on lottery business).

Accordingly, lottery business activities are subject to strict control by competent state agencies; Only enterprises that are granted a certificate of eligibility for lottery business by competent state agencies are allowed to organize lottery business activities.

Currently, the whole country has 64 lottery businesses, including 63 state-owned enterprises operating traditional lotteries in provinces and cities and Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company (Vietlott) operating computerized lottery nationwide.

Regarding distribution method: According to the law on lottery business, traditional lottery tickets are only allowed to be distributed through lottery companies (sold directly to customers or distributed through a lottery agent system that has signed an agency contract with the lottery company);

For Vietlott's computerized lottery tickets, they are only distributed through the terminals of agents who have signed agency contracts with Vietlott and telephone (SMS).

Bộ Tài chính cho rằng mua hộ vé số, mua bán xổ số online là trái quy định và tồn tại nhiều rủi ro ảnh 1

The Ministry of Finance believes that buying lottery tickets and selling lottery tickets online is against regulations and has many risks.

Thus, the Ministry of Finance emphasized that current laws do not allow the sale of lottery tickets over the internet and the “purchase of lottery tickets on behalf of others”. The fact that some organizations and individuals conduct lottery business over the internet is against the law because these units are not licensed to do lottery business and the method of distributing tickets is not in accordance with regulations.

In addition, this form of lottery buying and selling still has some shortcomings and limitations, such as: Buying traditional domestic lottery tickets and electronic lottery tickets via the internet causes difficulties in the management and operation of the lottery market by the management agency. Taking advantage of the name of buying lottery tickets, these organizations may organize for players to participate in the lottery directly to seek profits, causing losses to the State budget due to not having to pay taxes, ticket printing costs, organizing the lottery opening... (similar to lottery numbers, lottery numbers that take advantage of lottery results for illegal business). These activities pose many risks that cause disorder in social security.

Second, there are many potential risks for players; players can have their money in their lottery account confiscated, or be forced to share the prize (because the ticket is held by the person who bought it on their behalf). The rights of lottery winners are not guaranteed.

This affects the lottery business environment, affects the openness and transparency in lottery business activities of enterprises. At the same time, it affects the reputation and loss of trust of players in the business activities of the State-owned Lottery Company in the case that the party purchasing the lottery ticket does not pay the prize but appropriates the winning amount of the winning customer.

In case of buying a Vietlott ticket on behalf of someone who wins a big Jackpot prize, there is a possibility that the ticket will not be returned to the winner because the website/application disappears while taking a photo of the confirmed ticket is not proof of ownership, affecting Vietlott's reputation.

In addition, accepting awards on behalf of others involves risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Ministry of Finance also said that in Directive 16/CT-TTG dated May 27, 2023 of the Prime Minister on strengthening the prevention and combat of crimes and violations of the law related to gambling and gambling organization activities, the Ministry of Finance was assigned to coordinate with localities to strengthen the management of lottery business activities, not allowing subjects to take advantage of gambling organization and gambling in the form of buying lottery numbers, lottery numbers or distributing lottery tickets in the wrong way.

“Based on current legal regulations to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of lottery buyers and to ensure a healthy market, the Ministry of Finance, ministries, branches and People's Committees of provinces and cities are coordinating to review and inspect to correct acts of intentionally violating the law.

This is a management measure of state management agencies to ensure that lottery business activities comply with legal regulations and ensure social order and security" - the Ministry of Finance emphasized.

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