200 illegal lotto operators formalize with NLA

At least 200 banker to banker illegal lotto operators in the Greater Accra region have formalized their operations with the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

The move is part of efforts to sanitize the lottery business in Ghana. The NLA has given all illegal lotto operators up to December to formalize their business or risk closure.

It has vowed to clampdown on all illegal operators.

The Director General of the NLA Kofi Osei-Ameyaw said they are expecting the number to increase after other regional data is collated.

“They don’t want to be chased by the long arm of the law, they don’t want intimidation as Ghanaians they want to be law abiding hence they have become aware that government is serious about revenue mobilization and it is upon that background that they ought to contribute their quota so that we can move forward as a country,” Osei-Ameyaw noted.

The Authority pays about Gh¢35 million every year to government. It has already put in place a strategic plan to formalize the banker to banker operators.

It has begun talks to scrap taxes on the commission it gives operators as well as tax of wins.

The authority has begun moves to also increase the commissions paid operators from 20 to 25 percent.

Formalisation of the banker to banker operators is also going to generate between GH¢150-200 million for government.