Alpha Lotto has no right to play its own game - NLA Management

The Management of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) said it has taken notice of the statement emanating from the management of Alpha Lotto Limited.

A statement signed by the NLA and copies sent to the media on Tuesday stated categorically that Alpha Lotto Limited was only licensed by authority to operate lotto under the Veterans Administration Ghana Act, 2012(Act 844) dated 1st day of July 2020 regulated by Act 722.

It said Alpha Lotto Limited under the terms and conditions of the license issued by NLA to the company has no right to operate its own games without authorization from the NLA as the regulator of the lottery industry.

The statement said: "As it stands, Alpha Lotto Limited has no approval from NLA to operate its own games. There are processes, procedures, criteria, and requirements an operator must fulfill before it can operate its own games under strict compliance with the rules and regulations of the NLA.

It said Alpha Lotto Limited has no right under the license issued to the company to operate its own independent platform without approval from the authority as the regulator.

The statement further states that every licensed operator under Act 844 is mandated to integrate its platform into the NLA's platform for monitoring and supervision of their activities as part of the terms and conditions of the license issued.

It said this would enable both parties to properly account for the Revenue Sharing Agreement in accordance with the terms and conditions of the license issued to Alpha Lotto Limited and all lotto operators licensed by NLA under Act 844.

The statement stressed that Alpha Lotto Limited has no right under the terms and conditions of its license under Act 844 to market its games through shortcode 896.

"The company Alpha Lotto Limited, is in breach of the terms and conditions of its license under Act 844. There is nowhere in the agreement stating that Alpha Lotto Limited can market its games through short a code".

It said: "Again there is nowhere in the agreement that Alpha Lotto Limited can conduct its own independent draw without supervision from the NLA".

The statement clearly stated that as part of the agreement, terms, and conditions of the license issued under Act 844, a draw committee must be constituted by the NLA to monitor all draws and that no draw committee has been constituted by NLA to supervise the draws of Alpha Lotto Limited.

It stated again that Alpha Lotto Limited has no legal rights under Act 844, the license issued to the Company by NLA to market independent lottery products using digital devices(end-to-end).

The Authority in the statement cautioned Alpha Lotto Limited to operate within the terms and conditions of its license issued under Act 844 and stop hiding behind its license under Act 844 to operate illegal services as well as misinforming the general public.

The Authority further cautioned Alpha Lotto Limited to cease the live draw on GTV, and stop the operation of the digital short code *896# with immediate effect and that failure to comply with the directives of the authority would attract the necessary sanctions including revocation of the company's license under Act 844.