Kerala govt for new law to protect lottery revenue

Existing regulation inoperative with GST roll out; state was hoping for Rs 7k cr from levy in 2017

The government of Kerala is contemplating a new law to protect its revenue from the lottery segment after the new national goods and services tax (GST) gets implemented. The state's annual revenue from lottery sale exceeds Rs 4,000 crore.

With GST implementation, the Kerala Tax on Paper Lotteries Act of 2005 will be inoperative, says the state government.

Kerala, unlike neighbouring Tamil Nadu, has been allowing lottery sales for long. With a large number of lotteries operating through agents in the state, there were allegations of lack of transparency and complaints of non-payment of the price money, which resulted in public protest