New rules for late claims of lottery prizes

The Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) said the Ministry of Finance has approved a new policy authorising payments from the Gaming Authority National Lottery Reserve Fund to holders of expired winning tickets of national lottery games.

To this effect, written requests are to be made to the LGA providing proof of possession of a valid winning ticket and stating the reason why the prize in question was not claimed within the stipulated period of 30 days from date of draw.

The authority said that requests will be considered for payment only under the following conditions:

• That claimant had a medical condition that prevented him from claiming the prize within the stipulated time;

• That claimant was abroad for the entire duration from the date of draw and the 30 days thereafter; and that

• Winner did not claim the prize in time for any other reason that does not reflect gross negligence.

The authority will not consider cases where the claim is made to the authority later than 60 running days from the end of the stipulated 30-day period for claiming the prize.

All claims will be considered by the LGA Board, who will make its recommendations to the Minister and in all cases, it is up to the Minister's discretion whether to authorise the payment of unclaimed prizes.