Hundreds of UK Post Offices Stop Selling National Lottery Tickets
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:Allwyn, the lottery operator, has announced that around 900 Post Office branches will no longer be selling United Kingdom (UK) National Lottery tickets or scratchcards. Allwyn says this is 19% of the total number of Post Office branches, 4800 outlets located throughout the UK.
In further details, the statement said that 600 of the sub-post offices had not signed to carry on with Allwyn due to the associated costs, as well as some who highlighted religious beliefs.
While this is not an ideal start for Allwyn, as the operator is looking for a smooth transition where everything is seamless for customers who want to play the lottery, the company is keen to point out that it has retained more than 98.5% of 23,000 independent retailers who have signed to carry on with the new lottery operator.
The high street is something that we really support. The investment in the lottery, both physical and digital – retailers see this as a real encouragement to get people out.
Post Office Limited decided to cancel its contract with the National Lottery operator last year, which was a central agreement that covered all the sub-post offices throughout the UK. Under this system, Post Office Limited took an estimated 1% transaction fee for all lottery sales.
Individual Outlets Must Purchase Their Own Scratchcards
Post Office Limited decided to let each individual Post Office branch decide whether to partner with the National Lottery operator. This will allow Post Office branches to keep all the commission they receive on lottery tickets, which Allwyn says is standard practice for all other lottery retail outlets.
One of the regulations laid out by the UK Gambling Commission in relation to the sales of Lottery tickets is that it is prohibited to sell them as a single product, and the retail outlet must also sell scratch cards.
One of the reasons given by the sub-postmasters who had decided not to carry on with the sales of lottery tickets is that they are obliged to buy the stock of scratchcards themselves.
Under the previous system, the Post Office would cover the cost of the purchase of scratchcards for each individual postmaster. Now, each sub-postmaster could be in a position of potentially losing money for any unsold scratch cards they have in stock.
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