Sale of Lottery Tickets in Kerala Likely to Resume on May 18th
Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac announced that the sale of lottery by the state government will resume on 18th May 2020. India has been in a lockdown since late March to curb the spread of novel coronavirus. The third phase of the lockdown will end on 17th May. The lottery sector was in a crisis as the government had to shut off the sale of lottery tickets during the lockdown, which is why the government is acting fast to resume selling lottery tickets to agents on May 18th.
Post lockdown, the first draw for the state’s lottery will be held on June 1. Eight lottery draws were postponed by the directorate of lotteries in Kerala due to the lockdown. These draws will be held in the month of June with two draws per week on Monday and Thursday.
Many lottery agents were jobless during the lockdown as there was no supply of lottery tickets by the government. The state government has planned to resume the sale of lottery tickets to help lottery vendors and to support the health sector with the revenue earned from the lotteries.
As per Isaac, to ease off the financial burden of ticket agents during this tough time, 100 tickets will be loaned each lottery agent. The agents will be allowed to settle the cost of tickets after they’ve sold them. This will help the lottery agents in the state to maintain liquidity.
The minister also said that the actual resuming of sales will depend on the prevailing situation in the country on those dates.
To read about the Kerala lottery types, prices, results, taxes, and prizes, you can refer to our detailed guide on the state’s lottery.
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January 14, 2019 – No decision taken on GST rate reduction on lotteries; matter referred to GoM
January 3, 2019 – GST council to decide on lowering tax rate for lotteries on 10th January
