Kerala witnesses unprecedented rise in lottery ticket sales amid COVID-19 pandemic

While the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced major changes in people's daily lives across states, a novel change that Kerala has seen is a rise in the sale of its lottery tickets. After the lockdown was lifted, Kerala Lottery Department achieved unprecedented gains with nearly one crore lottery tickets (1,00,20,000) being sold in a day!

"In November 2020, the per-day sales had reached up to 1,00,20,000 tickets. This is the first such increase since the weekly ticket price was hiked to Rs 40. The December sales figures also show that an average of more than 90 lakh lottery tickets are sold every day," said an official of the Lottery Department.

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The lucky draws were completely cancelled for more than 90 days from March 2020, when the lockdown began. However, as soon as they reopened, sales had to be increased from three days a week to five days with unprecedented tickets being printed. About 46 lakh tickets were being printed on a daily basis in September which was followed by nearly 90 lakh in December. 

While the numbers seem extraordinary, the Kerala Lottery Department believes the numbers are an indicator that people are trying their luck amidst the financial difficulties that the pandemic has brought. Seeing potential in the sector, the Lottery Department has opened 18 new Lottery Sub Offices across the State and has created new posts. 

"The Lottery Department also has benefited from a new system to detect fake tickets in the market. A mobile app called Bhagyakeralam has been developed to scan the QR code on tickets to check if they are fake. The lottery tickets designed with CDiT's technical assistance include seven types of security measures. The growth of the Lottery Department has also been helped by its ability to curb the sale of counterfeit tickets," said the official.

The Kerala lottery is conducted at Gorky Bhavan Near Bakery Junction, Thiruvananthapuram.

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(With Agency Inputs)