NATIONAL LOTTERIES BOARD

(1) A Board to be called the National Lotteries Board, hereinafter in this Act referred to as ” the Board”, shall be established for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may by its name sue and be sued.

(1) The Board shall consist of not more than five members appointed by the Minister.

(2) The Minister shall appoint one of the members of the Board to be the Chairman of the Board.

(3) The Minister may, if he thinks it expedient to do so, remove, by Order published in the Gazette, any member of the Board from office without reason stated.

(4) A member of the Board in respect of whom an Order under subsection (3) of this section is made by the Minister shall vacate his office on the date of the publication of such Order in the Gazette.

(5) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister.

(6) If the Chairman or any other member of the Board is temporarily unable to discharge the duties of his office on account of ill health or absence from Sri Lanka or any other cause, the Minister may appoint some other person to act in his place as the Chairman, or as a member, of the Board, as the case may be.

(7) Every member of the Board shall, unless he earlier vacates office by resignation or removal, hold office for a period of five years. Any member of the Board who vacates office by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(8) No. act or proceeding of the Board shall be invalid by reason only of the existence of any vacancy among its members or any defect in the appointment of any of its members.

(1) The staff necessary for the discharge of the Board’s duties under this Act shall be determined by the Board, and every appointment to such staff shall be made by the Board.

(2) The officers and servants of the Board shall be remunerated in such manner and at such rates, and shall be subject to such conditions of service as may be determined by rules made under this Act. Such remuneration shall be paid out of the Fund of the Board.

(3) The Board may, in accordance with rules made under this Act, establish and maintain a provident fund for the benefit of its officers and servants, make contributions out of its Fund to such provident fund, regulate the management and investment thereof, and fix the contributions to be made thereto by, and the payments to be made therefrom to, or in respect of, such officers and servants.

(1) The Board may acquire, hold and dispose of any movable and immovable property, and enter into contracts and otherwise do all such acts as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) All sums payable by the Board under any contract entered into by the Board or in respect of any movable or immovable property acquired or held by the Board shall be paid out of the Fund of the Board. All sums received by the Board under any such contract or in respect of any such property shall be paid to the Fund of the Board.

(3) All sums payable by the Board for the purpose of defraying any expenditure incurred in the management of the affairs or the transaction of the business of the Board, or the exercise of the powers or the performance of the duties of the Board under this Act, shall be paid out of the Fund of the Board.

(1) The Board shall have its own Fund.

(2) There shall be paid to the Fund of the Board all sums required by this Act to be so paid.

(3) There shall be paid out of the Fund of the Board all sums required by this Act to be so paid.

(4) All cheques for the payment of moneys out of the Fund of the Board shall be signed by a member of the Board and by any such officer employed by the Board as may be authorized in that behalf by the Board.

(1) The Minister may grant out of the Consolidated Fund to the Board, free of interest’, a loan not exceeding rupees one million for the purpose of enabling the Board to meet the initial expenses incurred by the Board in the discharge of its duties under this Act.

(2) Any sum granted to the Board by way of loan under subsection (1) of this section-

(a) the custody and use of its seal;

(b) the appointment, promotion, dismissal and disciplinary control of its officers and servants;

(c) the meetings of the Board and the quorum for, and the procedure to be followed at, such meetings; and

(d) the establishment and maintenance of a provident fund for its officers and servants, and the payment of contributions to that fund by the Board and such officers and servants.

(1) No suit or prosecution shall lie-

(2) Any expense incurred by the Board in any suit or prosecution brought by or against the Board before any court shall be paid out of the Fund of the Board, and any costs paid to, or recovered by, the Board in any such suit shall be credited to such Fund.

(3) Any expense incurred by any such person as is referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) in any suit or prosecution brought against him before any court in respect of any act done or purported to be done by him under this Act or on the direction of the Board shall, if the court holds that such act was so done or purported to be done in good faith, be paid out of the Fund of the Board, unless that expense is recovered by him in such suit or prosecution.

(1) The Board may conduct lotteries for the purposes of this part of this Act.

(2) The Board may enter into agreements with any other person, for the conduct by such other person, of lotteries for the purposes of this Part of this Act, on behalf of the Board.

(3) The Board may by licence issued in that behalf, authorize the conduct by any other person, of lotteries for the purposes of this Part of this Act,

(4) Every lottery conducted by the Board under subsection (1) or conducted on behalf of the Board under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) or conducted under the authority of a hence issued under subsection (3) is in this Part of this Act referred to as a ‘national lottery”.’.

(1) Every licence issued by the Board conditions under subsection (3) of section 14 shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be issued determined by the Board and approved by the under Minister.

(2) There shall be paid in respect of every licence issued under subsection (3) of section 14, a fee of such amount as may be prescribed. The fee shall be paid to the Board by the person to whom the licence is issued and shall be credited by the Board to the Consolidated Fund.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Board to cancel a licence issued by it under subsection (3) of section 14, if the holder of the licence fails to comply with, any term or condition to which the licence is subject or any provision of this Act.”.

(1) The number of prizes to be awarded in a national lottery and the value of each such prize shall-

(2) Every prize awarded in a national lottery shall consist of a sum of money and every such prize shall be exempt from the operation of section 3 (1) (i) of the Inland Revenue Act, No. 4 of 1963, and be exempt from income tax under section 8 (a) item (xxv) of the Inland Revenue Act (No. 28 of 1979), and shall not be included in the assessment of profits as income for the payment of tax by such prize winner under the provisions of those Acts.

“(3) The prize winners in every national lottery shall be determined-

(4) After the expiration of a period of six months reckoned from the date of determination of the winners in a national lottery conducted by the Board, any prize in such national lottery which has not been granted to the person entitled thereto by reason of the fact that such person is not to be found shall be forfeited, and shall, if such prize relates to a national lottery, conducted by the Board otherwise than under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, be paid to the Fund of the Board, and if such prize relates to a national lottery conducted by the Board, under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, be disposed of in accordance with the terms of such agreement:

Provided however, that where any action or proceeding arising out of any claim made in respect of such prize is pending before any court at the expiration of the period aforesaid, such forfeiture shall not be made, and if in the final determination of that action or proceeding any person is declared to be entitled to such prize, the Board shall grant .such prize to that person, and if no person is so declared, such prize shall he forfeited and shall, if such prize relates to a national lottery conducted by the Board, otherwise than under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, be paid to the Hind of the Board, and if such prize relates to a lottery conducted by the Board under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, be disposed of in accordance with the terms of such agreement;

Provided, however, that where any action or proceeding arising out of any claim made in respect of such prize is pending before any court at the expiration of the period aforesaid, such forfeiture shall not be made, and if in the final determination of that action or proceeding any person is declared to be entitled to such prize, the Board shall grant such prize to that person, and if no person is so declared, such prize shall be forfeited and paid to the Fund of the Board.

(1) The proceeds of every national lottery conducted by the Board shall be paid in the first instance to the Fund of the Board.

(1A) Where the prize consisting of money in a national lottery conducted by the Board, is not won by any person, such prize money shall notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, be credited to a Prize Reserve Account and the monies accumulated in such account shall be used for the award of at subsequent national lotteries conducted by the Board.

(2) The Board shall pay to the Consolidated Fund through the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury the balance of the proceeds of every national lottery conducted by the Board, otherwise than under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, after deducting therefrom such proceeds of an amount approved by the Secretary to the Ministry of the Minister as the amount necessary for the purpose of-

(3) The Board shall pay to the Consolidated Fund through the Secretary to the Ministry of the Minister, the proceeds of every national lottery conducted on behalf of the Board under an agreement entered into under subsection (2) of section 14, after a deduction from such proceeds, the value of the prizes awarded in such national lottery and of any management fees payable, under the terms of that agreement, to the person conducting such national lottery and of an amount approved by the Secretary as being an amount necessary for the purposes of meeting any payments and liabilities referred to in paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of subsection (2).

(4) All prizes in a national lottery which have been forfeited and paid to the Fund of the Board, under section 16, shall be credited by the Board to the Consolidated Fund.

(1) The Board may make rules in respect of all matters stated or authorized by this Act to be prescribed, or in respect of which rules are authorized to be so made by this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, rules made under this section may make provision in respect of all or any of the following matters:-

(3) No rule made by the Board under this section shall have effect until it has been approved by the Minister. Every rule so made and approved, other than any rule relating to any of the matters referred to in section 11 shall be published in the Gazette as soon as it may be convenient.

(1) Every person who-

(2) All sums paid or recovered as fines imposed for offences under this section shall be paid to the Fund of the Board,

(a) all the movable and immovable properties of the Hospitals Lotteries Board on the day immediately prior to the appointed date (including moneys in the Fund of that Board) shall be deemed to vest in, and to be the properties of, the National Lotteries Board;

(b) all the contracts of the Hospitals Lotteries Board subsisting on that day shall be deemed to be the contracts of the National Lotteries Board, and all subsisting rights and obligations of the Hospitals Lotteries Board under such contracts shall be deemed to be the rights and obligations of the National Lotteries Board;

(c) the liabilities of the Hospitals Lotteries Board on that day shall be deemed to be the liabilities of the National Lotteries Board;

(d) the Hospitals Fund maintained at the General Treasury under the repealed Hospitals Lotteries Act shall cease to be so maintained, and all sums of money lying to the credit of such Hospitals Fund shall be transferred to the Consolidated Fund by the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury; and

(e) the provident fund established and maintained by the Hospitals Lotteries Board for its officers and servants under the repealed Hospitals Lotteries Act shall be deemed to be a provident fund established and maintained by the National Lotteries Board for its officers and servants under this Act.