There is no such proposal under consideration: Nityanand Rai

The Centre has no plan to impose a pan-India ban on lotteries, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said today.

Mr Rai told Rajya Sabha that currently lotteries are allowed in 10 states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal.

"There is no such proposal under consideration," he said in a written reply to a question on plan to impose a pan-India ban on all kinds of lotteries.

The minister said the central government has not allowed sale of lottery tickets in Union Territories and in the absence of a consensus on the issue, the government has notified the Lotteries (Regulation) Rules, 2010 for effective regulation.

The amount of service tax collected from lottery distributors and selling agents during the year 2016-17 was about Rs 260 crore, he said.