Lotto goes mobile in India

Lottery distributor Sugal & Damani has rolled out a new official mobile lottery app for State Government-run Lotto games in the Indian market for the first time, according to an Economic Times report.

‘Luckykhel’ is currently only available in the Google Play store with plans for a wider release reportedly imminent.

“No trade can ignore the digital medium. There’ll be 468 million smartphone users by 2021,” Kamlesh Vijay, group CEO of Sugal & Damani (S&D), told the Economic Times.

“We’d be able to reach out to more customers via mobile phones. Our costs would go down and we’ll be able to sell lotteries round the clock.”

Luckykhel is available to residents of India, 18-years-old and above. Games on offer through the mobile platform include Saturday Lotto, Thursday Lotto, Powerball, Bonusball, Mega5, Dream5, Keno, Magic Lotto and Lucky Four from multiple state lotteries including Goa, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Customers who download the app will be required to register an account and follow KYC and security processes to participate. Geolocation technology is in place to ensure states who do not allow lottery sales are blocked and problem gambling measures will identify compulsive gambling.

Vijay predicts within 12 months mobile lotteries will account for 5-10 percent of overall lottery sales in India.