The National Lotteries Authority has announced that payment of winning tickets and prizes after every draw will slightly delay due to unforeseen circumstances.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of NLA provided reasons for the anticipated delayed payment.
“The National Lottery Authority (NLA) would like to bring to the attention of the staking public, media, lotto discounters, lotto marketing companies and other stakeholders that the payment of Winning Tickets/Prize after every draw would slightly delay for a number of days due to the following reasons:
“1. The employees of the Authority currently run on Shift as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. In as much as we are ever willing to satisfy the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies, it is equally important for NLA to also take pragmatic steps to protect the lives of the employees of the Authority in this difficult period of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Due to the Shifts system currently administered by the Authority, validation and payment of winning tickets would reasonably delay and we are respectfully appealing to the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to exercise patience since we are not in normal times.
“2. It has also become very imperative for the Authority to properly investigate Winning Tickets/Prize before payment due to the rising activities of lotto fraudsters in the lottery industry.
“The decision by NLA to do due diligence, thorough investigation and validation of Winning Tickets would definitely affect the timelines for payment.
“From the above stated reasons, we are humbly urging the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to promptly register their respective Winning Tickets at nearby Regional and District Offices of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) or even at the Authority’s Head Office for thorough validation and investigation of the Winning Tickets before payment.
“Henceforth we are passionately appealing to the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to exercise patience with the process so that collectively and individually we all can transform the lottery industry,” the statement concluded.
