THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A person who bought the first prize-winning Kerala State Thiruvonam Bumper lottery ticket (TE 230662) from Walayar in Palakkad is reportedly the claimant of the whopping Rs 25 crore jackpot this year. The ticket was issued by Kozhikode-based Bava Lottery Agency to a sales outlet in Walayar and according to the outlet, the ticket was bought by Coimbatore native Natarajan, their regular customer. The man, who bought 10 tickets, including the lucky one, is yet to openly stake claim to the prize.
Of the Rs 25 crore prize money, 10% will be deducted as agent commission and an income tax of 30% will be levied on the remaining amount. An estimated Rs 15.75 crore would be credited to the top prize winner’s bank account by the state lotteries department.
The winner will also have to pay surcharge and cess which would see the prize money further coming down to Rs 12.88 crore. While 20 people were chosen for the second prize of Rs one crore each, another 20 people were entitled to the third prize of Rs 50 lakh each. The fourth prize of Rs 5 lakh would be handed out to 10 winners. Another 10 winners would get Rs 2 lakh each as prize money for the fifth prize. This year’s Onam bumper ticket sales registered an all-time record. Of the 85 lakh tickets printed, 75.76 lakh were sold. Last year, the total sale was 67.5 lakh tickets.
In this year’s Onam bumper, the total prize money was to the tune of Rs 125.54 crore. Lottery agencies would get a total commission of Rs 12.55 crore from the prize money on offer. The number of prizes, too, increased this year and stood at 5.34 lakh from from 3.97 lakh last year.