Lotto vendors slam bill paying

LOTTO VENDORS across Port-of-Spain have voiced their disapproval of the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) proposed plan to install bill payment facilities at on-line outlets across the country, calling it “downright stupid.” As the NLCB celebrated its ten-year anniversary in the on-line gaming business this year and a profit margin upwards of $900 million for 2003, the company’s chairman Louis Lee Sing noted that in the “near future residents of Cedros would not have to leave their areas to pay their bills as we propose to turn our terminals into bill payment centres and ticket outlets.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity, several Lotto booth operators labelled the plan as “outrageous and downright stupid” since this facility would only affect the on-line games especially at month-end and weekends, when customers are at an all-time high.

The view that machine operators were not equipped to deal with additional responsibilities was also expressed. One concerned operator noted that it was already difficult for him to operate the Lotto booth by himself during the peak hours, with the addition of the bill payment centres, things would be “totally crazy around the booth.” Given the locations and sizes of the number of the on-line games in the city, a concern over the availability of facilities to operate the bill payment centres was also voiced, since according to a young woman “they can’t expect us to cash bills and play Lotto on the same machine, they looking for someone to get knock down or worse.” She explained that when customers come into the outlet to play their “mark,” they are already rowdy and hassling. “Could you imagine someone coming to pay a bill in the middle of all that melee at 12.25 pm, just when the line for the Lotto and Play-Whe starts filling up. “This would be frustration for the operator, the gambler and the person coming to pay the bill,” she noted. 

“Even if they put a separate machine in the outlet, they would have to hire additional staff and security, and then staff would have to be trained to handle the machine and all that. They can’t put this in place for a long time to come. “Maybe by the time they have everything settled and all the wrinkles ironed out, we might be more open to the idea, but right now I can’t see how that thing would work, or who would benefit.” Customers liming and waiting for the drawing of the Donsai game added their displeasure over the proposal. One customer noted that from what he was hearing, “NLCB was only trying to get their hands on another piece of pie.” Differing from that view, another customer noted there are times when the lines are empty and the customers are slow, noting that if these times can be identified then bill payments can be made at particular times. He also noted that this could be a good thing, since Lotto booths usually open late and this would give the clientele additional time to get to the centre to pay their bills.