The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has served notice that it will soon clamp down on the activities of illegal lotto operators, popularly known as “banker to banker.”

The spokesperson of the NLA, Goodfellow Dei Ofei, said the authority will collaborate with the police and other security agencies to flush out miscreants from the industry.

On Monday (8 November 2021), the director-general of the NLA, Sammi Awuku, paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to fashion out strategies to nip illegal lotto operation in the bud.

Touching more on the meeting, Ofei said unlicensed lotto operators would not be spared when the joint operation with the security agencies kicks off.

“The mission was to engage the police service on how they can support us in our mission to clamp down on illegal lotto operators which is the banker to banker, and in fact our strategy is to have a task force which is drawn from the police and military,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NLA has announced that it has completed the pre-qualification phase for licensing of all operators of private lotto (OPL) for the 2021/2022 licensing year.

“Subsequently, all OPls who submitted their duly completed pre-qualification forms to NLA are hereby requested to contact the operations office at the NLA Head Office, Fortune House First floor, Accra for Licensing Application Forms and Payment Terms,” a statement from NLA said.

It added: “The deadline for submission of duly completed Licensing Application Forms and for making payments is October 29, 2021. Licensing of OPLs for the 2021/2022 licensing year will commence on November 1, 2021.

“NLA would like to encourage OPLs to take steps to regularize their operations. Effective 1 November 2021, NLA, in collaboration with the security services, will clamp down on all unlicensed lottery operators to sanitize the lotto industry.”