The official lotteries are registered with deputy commissioner (lottery tax) and have paid tax to the government. The ministry has warned strict action against promoters and distributors of illegal lotteries under Sections 14 (1), 17 and 18 of Maharashtra Tax on Lotteries Act, 2006. A case would also be registered under central government's Lotteries Regulations Act, 1998.
The central Act permits only state-organised lotteries to be run in the country. Many state governments including Maharashtra run lotteries for raking in extra revenue. However, lotteries are banned in some states. There are a number of instances where one state has banned lotteries run by another as they compete with each other for a share in the lottery market.
The finance ministry list includes 17 lotteries run in traditional format and 241 online ones. Maharashtra's ten and Bhutan's seven traditional lotteries figure in the list. Among the online ones are Goa's 168 and Sikkim's 63 lotteries. The government resolution (GR) featuring the list of these lotteries is available on Maharashtra government's website .
The state's lottery tax Act mandates that promoter of any lottery has to register himself with the deputy commissioner (lottery tax) before he launches the scheme. The promoter has to pay an advance on every Monday. The amount is assessed by the deputy commissioner. He also has to submit his records regularly to the lottery department.
Other than Indian state governments, Bhutan is also allowed to run lotteries in India. The central government is in pro-lottery business, which is a Rs 50,000 crore industry. It recently rationalised service tax liability on sellers and distributors of lottery tickets by giving them the option to pay tax at flat rate based on the face value of tickets.
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