By Cecil MENSAH
The lottery regulatory body, National Lottery Authority (NLA) has assured Banker-to-Banker lottery agents and writers that they will now operate without being harassed by Police.
This is part of the licensing regime of the authority mandated by Act 722, which stipulates the registration of all operators.
The NLA says the licensing regime, if rolled out in 2018, will ensure sanity in the sector and bring some sort of dignity to the lottery sector of the economy.
The authority has urged lottery writers and agents to endeavour to register when the amnesty regime elapses by December 31, 2017.
The authority said now that the Board of Directors of NLA has been inaugurated by the Minister of Finance, it will soon determine the amount of money to be paid as registration fees.
The NLA gave the assurance that registration fees will be minimal for agents and writers to enable them also enjoy benefits being rolled out by the lotto regulator.
The NLA quickly added that fees for writers will be lower than that of the agents and that of the operators will be higher.
According to NLA, the era where banker-to-banker agents and writers were chased and their mobilizations seized by the Police and officials of the NLA will be over if the agents register with the authority.
Speaking at a forum to educate agents and writers, Director-General (DG) of NLA, Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw, said under the licensing regime, agents and writers will be given identity cards to weed out the illicit lotto writers and agents from the system.
He explained that the licensing regime will assist the authority to determine the number of Banker-to- Banker operators in the system.
Writer’s Email: cecilm@businessdayghana.com
