While the Ministry of Finance and the Loteria Nacional of the Dominican Republic are focusing on a new regulation process for lottery shops that are not registered in the legal system, lottery operators have demanded that their opinions be considered on the new plan.
The companies are asking for an uniform system to be adopted for prizes, “since lottery shops manage different numbers.” This would be inconvenient when it comes to competition between the shops, since they pay different prizes without a clear criteria.
Additionally, the operators demanded greater controls from the authorities during the draws, “aiming to improve credibility in each move that is made.” This arises after the number 13 was the winning number on three different national lottery prizes on Monday, which the operators see as a “coincidence”, according to local outlet Noticias Sin.
The demand for greater transparency also comes after an investigation against the former head of the national lottery, Luis Maisichell Dicent, who is currently detained due to an ongoing case against several officials allegedly involved in fraudulent draws on May 1, 2021.
At the beginning of February, the Dominican President Luis Abinader announced a plan to regularise lottery shops throughout the country. He specifically declared the plan as one of national interest to be addressed by the Ministry of Finance, which now has the responsibility of establishing the necessary tools and processes to execute the plan.
Lottery shops that operate illegally will have a 120 day period to regularise their businesses and join the legal industry. The decree establishes that it’s “essential” to have a record of the shops that have a licence so action can be taken on those that do not.
The project also creates a Consultation Council, made up of representatives of the Treasury, the General Directorate of Internal Taxes, Fenabanca, concessionaires, independent shop groups, the head of the Lotería Nacional and two other members. The group will monitor the plan and will be coordinated by Teófilo Tabar, current head of the lottery.
