Online lottery activities are becoming a new online gambling trend in the country. But according to the Department of Law and Order (DLO) under the Home Ministry, such activities are a clear act of gambling which is against the laws of the country.
The department issued a notification a few weeks ago asking the general public to refrain from the operation of the lottery business.
According to the notification from the DLO, people are operating and are engaged in lottery games such as Bhutan Teer, Night Teer game, Shillong Teer game, Early Night Teer, Night Shillong Teer, Lockdown Teer games and other similar gaming through social media platforms.
Officials from the department said such online schemes are solely for profit-making with no transparency and protection of the buyers. Buyers can fall prey to online scammers through such lottery schemes besides many drawbacks of gambling.
Karma Dorji, the Officiating Chief for DLO says online gambling is dangerous because of its reach and the impact it will have on the community and society as a whole. “Some people could also get addicted because the way online gambling is advertised is to attract more participants. They might put in lots of money and I think the risk is that they could get into huge debt and cause lots of family problem and problem in the community and society,” he said.
He said the department also talked with few of the lottery operators in the country to which the individuals cooperated and agreed to stop the operation immediately. However, if anyone is found practising the scheme again, it will be dealt as per section 194 of the Penal Code of Bhutan where the offence of gambling is a petty misdemeanour. Moreover, section 429 of Information Communications and Media Act of Bhutan 2018 prohibits online gambling.
Meanwhile, Bhutan Lottery is legalised and officials said in such a case, social impacts will be monitored and necessary intervention will be made accordingly. As per section 395 of the Penal Code of Bhutan, an authorized lottery is not considered gambling.
Kinley Dem
