Kerala: Christmas Bumper lottery printing begins after 2-week delay; sales likely to drop
The printing of the Christmas Bumper Lottery tickets has finally begun after a two-week delay, caused by a dispute over the prize structure. Due to this delay, the sales of the lottery tickets are expected to drop significantly, as the tickets are arriving later than usual.
FollowThiruvananthapuram: Due to changes in the prize structure, the printing of the Christmas bumper lottery tickets, which had been stalled, has finally begun. The tickets, which were supposed to be available earlier, were delayed by two weeks due to a dispute over the prize distribution. As a result of this delay, the sales are expected to significantly decrease.
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The Pooja Bumper draw took place on the 4th of this month, while the Christmas Bumper 2024 was supposed to be released on the same day. Typically, the first two weeks after the release of bumper tickets see massive sales, especially during the weeks leading up to the draw. However, the Christmas Bumper tickets are still two days away from being available.
With the Sabarimala season in full swing, sales would have been higher, but the two-week delay means that many potential buyers are unlikely to make purchases now.
Last year, more than 42 lakh tickets were sold. A dispute over the prize structure delayed the release of this year's tickets. The finance minister approved a new prize structure for this year, which saw a reduction in the number of prizes of 1000, 2000, and 5000 denominations. As a result, agents insisted that they would not take the tickets. Due to issues with the Lottery Workers' Welfare Fund Board, the printing of tickets was halted until now.
The government has now decided to release tickets based on last year's prize structure. 12 lakh tickets have already been printed according to the old structure. However, with the decision to print new tickets, the cost of printing these 12 lakh tickets will be lost, resulting in a loss of Rs 15 lakh for the lottery department. If sales do not improve in the remaining days, there is a possibility that the government's Christmas bumper tickets might fail to meet expectations.
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