Lotto receivers lose another legal battle

March 24, 2011 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Accra High Court yesterday declined to place an interim injunction on the decision of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to reduce the commission paid to lotto receivers by five per cent.
Executive members of the National Lotto Receivers Union (NLRU) took the NLA to court over a recent decision by the authority to reduce its commission from 25 to 20 per cent.
The executive, representing more than 3,500 members, had prayed the court to restrain the NLA from reducing its commission but the court held a different view and, accordingly, dismissed the application for interim injunction.
According to the court, presided over by Mr Justice F.G. Kobieh, a Court of Appeal judge with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, the NLA had the legal right to reduce the commission of the applicants.
He said Section 28 of the National Lottery Act, Act 722, empowered the board of directors of the NLA to determine the commission to be paid lotto marketing companies (LMCs).
The court’s decision stemmed from the NLA’s argument that it (NLA) had procured portable lotto ticketing machines to be used by the LMCs.
The NLA had argued that aside from selling lotto coupons, the applicants were making additional money from using the machines to sell cellular phone credit, pay utility bills, transfer money, among others.
That, according to the authority, was good enough to raise additional revenue for the applicants, especially when the receivers would make a lot more money when the NLA fully rolled out its plan to raise the stakes.