Many traditional lottery companies in the southern region are losing out to Vietnam Computerised Lottery Company, Vietlott, which is attracting lots of customers due to its high-value prizes.

Vietlott's representative said they would ask agents to strictly follow the regulations

Vietlott's jackpot of VND92bn (USD4m) on October 16 has seen people flocking to buy tickets to try their luck, leaving other lottery companies worried about their market share.

During a meeting on October 22 about the lottery in the southern region, it was reported that they had seen positive growth in the first nine months. However, representatives of many lottery companies claimed that Vietlott had violated regulations and might affect the stability of the southern market.

Le Van Khanh, director of Soc Trang Province Lottery Company said some agents in HCM City brought Vietlott tickets to sell at various provinces and cities that Vietlott hadn't opened any branches at yet.

Vo Van Tuan, chairman of Kien Giang Province Lottery Company said Vietlott shouldn't let mobile street vendors sell their tickets. Buyers should be able to pick their ticket numbers, not the pre-printed ones at those vendors because such operations are similar to the traditional paper lottery.

"A computerised ticket costs VND10,000 (45 US cents) but it is sold at VND12,000 at mobile street vendors. This is unfair to dedicated agents and may create unhealthy competition between different types of lottery," he said.

Vietlott said they would ask agents to strictly follow the regulations and will tighten monitoring to detect violations at their branches.

"The company was established five years ago but only began operations three months ago. The company is still young so we still have many problems," said Vietlott's deputy director Nguyen Thanh Dam.

Dam said some people want to choose their ticket number but there are also many people want to buy randomly-generated ones.

"Due market demand that many mobile street vendors bought pre-printed tickets in order to re-sell them to other buyers at higher prices. We need help from other lottery companies and local authorities to deal with such cases. Fines should be applied to those sell tickets at unregistered areas in accordance with the law," he said.

Dtinews