THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Lotteries Department has adopted high-security printing techniques to keep malpractice at bay for the Thiruvonam Bumper which is the biggest lucky draw in the country. Most important is the fluorescent marks on the ticket, a proven security measure introduced last year, said Lotteries director Abraham Renn.
“It will help prevent the sale of duplicate tickets. Also, lottery agents cannot be duped by producing high-quality photocopies of winning tickets. Last year, not a single instance of fraud was reported,” he said. Using a high-quality machine and special ink will not be affordable to scammers, he added.
The fluorescence feature is used for high-priced tickets and would not be economical for other lotteries. “Every ticket has at least 14 safety features, including micro printing, Guilloche pattern, variable printing, intaglio printing etc. These features have helped to bring down complaints related to tampering of tickets.” Renn said. The department is also keeping vigil against frauds on social media and messenger platforms. On July 20, Renn wrote letters to all district police chiefs to act tough on people conducting virtual sales of lotteries on WhatsApp and Telegram.
More prizes this time
This year’s Thiruvonam Bumper lottery was released by Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Tuesday. It offers a total of 5,34,670 prizes, an increase of 1.36 lakh prizes when compared to 2022. The ticket for the Rs 25 crore jackpot is priced at Rs 500 and would be available from July 27.
Last year, 66,55,914 lakh tickets were sold and the number of prizes was 3,97,911. In 2022, the second prize of Thiruvonam Bumper was Rs 5 crore for one ticket. This year, there will be 20 second prizes of Rs 1 crore each. The agent’s commission is Rs 97 per ticket. The total amount offered as prize money is Rs 125.54 crore. Rs 12.55 crore will be given as agents’ commission. Tickets will be printed in 10 series.