THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — Attention, Kerala lottery enthusiasts: your chances of winning just got a little slimmer. The state government is implementing a new 40% GST rate on lotteries, which will lead to a reduction in the number of prize winners and a cut in agent commissions. This change, which takes effect on Monday, is aimed at absorbing the increased tax without raising the price of tickets.
The decision was made to prevent the GST hike from negatively impacting the lottery industry and ticket sales. While the price of a ticket will remain unchanged, the total prize money will see a reduction of over one crore rupees.
Fewer Prizes, Less Commission
The new rules will primarily affect prizes of ₹5,000 and ₹1,000. For example, in the “Suvarna Keralam” lottery, which previously awarded ₹5,000 to 21,600 winners, only 20,520 people will now win that prize. Similarly, the number of ₹1,000 winners will be reduced from 32,400 to 27,000. In total, this means 6,480 fewer winners for this specific lottery alone.
The total prize money for the “Suvarna Keralam” lottery will decrease by a total of ₹1.08 crore. Additionally, lottery agents will see their commission reduced from 12% to 9%. The new GST rate and prize structure will not apply to the upcoming Onam bumper lottery.
