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Guidance for information collected in the Lottery Submissions service.
Published: 31 January 2022
Last updated: 1 February 2022
This version was printed or saved on: 1 May 2025
Online version: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/guidance/lottery-submissions-guidance
Operators of non-commercial society lotteries and local authority lotteries must submit information to us about each lottery they have conducted.
These guidance notes explain what details are to be submitted to us and when.
We use the data provided to:
The requirement to provide a regulatory return is contained within Licence condition 11.1.1 of our Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).
These reporting requirements apply to all holders of lottery operating and external lottery manager licences issued to non-commercial societies or local authorities.
We are seeking feedback on these questions. Get in touch with us via our online contact form.
A separate lottery submission must be made for each lottery run under a licence from us.
Each lottery submission must detail:
Lottery submissions must be made via the lottery submissions module on our eServices digital service.
Lottery submissions must be made within three months of the date of the lottery draw. In the case of an instant win (scratchcard) lottery, this should be within three months of the last date on which the instant win game was put on sale (or within three months of the expiry date of the scratchcards).
As we only regulate gambling in Great Britain, not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (except for The National Lottery), operators must ensure the data they submit is for their operations in Great Britain (GB) only. Northern Ireland data must not be included. Data for customers or operations relating to the Isle of Man, Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey must also be omitted, as these are Crown Dependencies and not part of Great Britain.
If a question is not applicable to a submission, operators must enter ‘0’ in that field. For example, if no prizes (money or non-monetary) were allocated from ticket sales for a rollover, enter a ‘0’ for the field ‘Amount rolled over to the next lottery.’ This is because all numeric fields in each lottery submission must contain a value.
All financial values must be in Pound Sterling.
Lottery operators are reminded that if they sell tickets by both remote and non-remote methods, they need both a non-remote and remote licence (or an ancillary remote licence if (remote) sales are £250k or below per annum). Remote sales are not just those made using the internet. They include any lottery tickets sold over the telephone, or any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating communication.
Detailed information about the responsibilities of lottery operators, including lottery submissions, can be found in the Licence conditions and codes of practice.
The landing page of the lottery submission module on eServices displays the total lottery proceeds for each lottery reported by a lottery operator along with the details on expenses, total prizes, and the balance of proceeds returned to the purposes of the society.
If you wish to view the full details of a lottery, click 'View' in the Actions column.
To make a new lottery submission click ‘Add lottery submission’ at the bottom of the page.
Check the Messages Requiring Action section to see if we need you to take any actions as a result of your submissions.
If you see a message on the submission when you click on the ‘Submit’ button, it is likely that there is a validation error on the submission. These errors must be rectified before re-submitting the return. Make sure that the information you have provided has been entered in the correct format and your calculations are correct.
If you see a message after submission, it is likely that there is information that you are required to provide to us (such as a statement of audited accounts), or there is information in the submission that we may wish to discuss with you (such as your licence category, your total annual proceeds, or your ancillary remote licence). If this is the case, we will contact you using the preferred contact method you have provided to us.
Please note that each lottery submission needs to be confirmed as accurate before it is submitted. This confirmation must be made by either:
Where an External Lottery Manager (ELM) makes the submission on behalf of a society one of the above-named persons at the society must confirm with the ELM that the details on the submission are correct before it is made.
We expect the signatory to make reasonable enquiries to ensure that the lottery submission is accurate and complete. Also, that the organisation’s processes and procedures to provide the data in the lottery submission are robust and assured. The extent of reasonable enquiries will differ depending on the size of business.
Most lottery operators make lottery submissions on time and accurately. Reviewing submissions which are late or have errors, costs time and money and makes us less efficient.
If a lottery operator misrepresents or fails to reveal information that it is asked to provide, unless it has a reasonable excuse, it will have committed an offence under section 342 of the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab). We may prosecute lottery operators which provide us with information which is false or deliberately misleading.
If a lottery submission contains errors and needs to be amended after it has been made, lottery operators must contact us by emailing complianceaction@gamblingcommission.gov.uk. Include your Gambling Commission licensed name and account number in the email header.
If a lottery operator submits lottery submissions late, we may contact the operator. In the case of repeated late submissions, we will refer the matter to our Enforcement team.
All information provided will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018) (opens in new tab). However, it may be disclosed to government departments or agencies, local authorities and other bodies when it is necessary to do so in order to carry out our functions and where we are legally required to do so.
As a public authority we must comply with the requirements of Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 (opens in new tab). We consider requests for information made under the Act on a case-by-case basis. Our policy on release of information is available on our website.