The way the National Lottery Board has handled unclaimed prize money has been heavily criticized by the 2022 Annual Audit Report.
The report indicated that the National Lottery Board had failed to comply with financial regulations and had withheld funds that should have been credited to the Consolidated Fund.
Non-crediting of unclaimed prize money from “Hadahana” lottery has been specifically mentioned in the said letter. According to the report, the National Lottery Board has retained 12 million unclaimed winnings from January 27, 2022 to June 30, 2022.
According to the provisions of the Act, this money should have been credited to the Consolidated Fund, but the National Lottery Board has kept the money in its account.
Meanwhile, the Development Lottery Board (DLB) has remitted the total profit after tax for the year 2022 of Rs.3,211 million to the President’s Fund.
According to the Development Lottery Board Act No. 20 of 1997, the entire profit from the lotteries conducted by the institution must be remitted to the President’s Fund.