Delhi govt to lift ban on lotteries partially

According to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, there is no move to appeal for a stay on the ban on the single-digit lottery. The single-digit lottery was banned by the Government and later by the Supreme Court.

“As a woman and as a mother, I would not want lotteries to be brought back,” Dikshit says, “But we also cannot ignore the thousands of jobs at stake.”

“It is like prohibition. We have to evaluate it before we can take such a step,” she held. In a single-digit lottery, which is very similar to matka or pot luck, bets are placed on the last digit of a number or a combination of it. It has been a traditional favourite of the lower strata of the society, crippling them economically.

The two- and three-digit lotteries are priced higher and considered less destructive than the single-digit one. “We are thinking about lifting the ban on two- and three- digit lotteries. Finance Minister Mahinder Singh Saathi has to get back to me on this,” Dikshit said.

In a Bill moved in Parliament in 1997 and later adopted by the present BJP Government in September 1998, it was decided that there would be a complete ban on sale of single-digit lotteries in the country.

But, it was left to the state governments to decide whether they would ban two- or three- digit lotteries of other states in their own areas. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh had decided to ban the sale of such lotteries of other states. North-Eastern states like Assam, however, have allowed other state lotteries to be sold in their states.

After the Centre’s ban, Delhi through a notification from the Home Ministry, had decided that there would be no sale of two- and three-digit lotteries of other states. Delhi’s own lottery was scrapped in 1995. If the Delhi Government wants to allow state lotteries it would have to follow a long procedure. First, the Government would have to seek another notification from the Home Ministry saying that other lotteries be allowed. Second, on Lieutenant-Governor Vijai Kapoor’s orders Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code is in force around places where there is a lottery sale to maintain law and order. The section entails that no crowds gather in an area and has forced lottery traders to leave the city to operate from the borders.

Third, and most importantly, the sales tax structure for the lotteries would have to be revised. Earlier, there was a 20 per cent sales tax on lotteries mainly as a deterrent against the flourishing lottery trade. “But as a result there was a lot of corruption and the sales kept going up without any tax collections,” pointed out an official in the Finance Department.

While officials are proposing a low tax of 2 to 3 per cent, Congressmen seem to be keen on a higher tax. It is believed a consensus figure of a 10 per cent sales tax on lotteries could be arrived at.