Lottery sellers are not allowed to ask for any fee on top of the standard price of Bt80 for a lottery ticket, the director-general at the Government Lottery Office (GLO), Boonsong Jantrisri, said on Sunday.
His remarks came after a social media post, showing a picture of a lottery stall asking for “service fee” of Bt10 to Bt20, went viral and was widely criticised by netizens since last week.
“Asking for additional fee constitutes price gouging and is punishable with up to Bt10,000 fine and revocation of permit,” he warned.
“The GLO recently increased the profit margin of registered sellers from 7 per cent (Bt5.6 per ticket) to 12 per cent (Bt9.6 per ticket). The profit should be enough for sellers to maintain their business and livelihood, and therefore asking for additional fees is inexcusable.”
Boonsong added that the GLO is offering a cash reward of Bt1,000 to citizens who provide information to officials on each case of lottery price gouging, while officials who catch wrongdoers will be rewarded based on the fine in each case, but not exceeding Bt2,000.
“The GLO has earmarked Bt8 million for cash rewards, which will be paid once the offenders confess to their crime and pay the fine,” he added.
According to GLO’s statistics, 6,047 lottery sellers were found guilty of price gouging in 2020 and their permits were revoked.
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