Guidance
Lotteries and the Gambling Act 2005
Guidance on lotteries and the Gambling Act 2005 for local authorities
Contents
- Introduction
- Definition of a lottery
- Definition of ‘prize’
- Definition of ‘society’
- Application and Duration
- Annual Fee
- Refusal of application
- Revocation of a small society’s registered status
- Appeals
- Cancellation
- Lottery Tickets
- Lottery Proceeds
- Lottery Prizes
- Administration and returns
- Lottery register
- Types of lottery that do not require a registration or licence (exempt lotteries)
- When is a lottery not a lottery?
- Common Problems
Lottery Tickets
Lotteries may involve the issuing of physical or virtual tickets to participants (a virtual ticket being non-physical, for example in the form of an email or text message). All tickets must state:
- the name of the promoting society;
- the price of the ticket, which must be the same for all tickets (e.g. there can be no option to ‘buy two tickets, get one free’;
- the name and address of the member of the society designated as having responsibility at the society for promoting small lotteries or, if there is one, the External Lottery Manager (a company who provide lottery management services for licensed or registered lottery promoters such as marketing and advertising, managing subscriptions etc);
- the date of the draw, or information which enables the date to be determined.
This information can be provided by giving the customer the opportunity to retain the message electronically or print it.
The society should maintain written records of any unsold and returned tickets for a period of one year from the date of the lottery draw. The Licensing Authority may wish to inspect the records of the lottery for any purpose related to the lottery.
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Lotteries and the GA05: Lottery Proceeds
Last updated: 11 October 2021
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