Văn bản hợp nhất 28/VBHN-BTC

CIRCULAR[1]

PROVIDING GUIDANCE ON COMPUTER-GENERATED LOTTERY BUSINESS

Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Minister of Finance providing guidance on computerized lottery business, coming into force as of August 1, 2019, amended by:

Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC dated April 8, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance on amendments to Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Minister of Finance providing guidance on computerized lottery business, coming into force as of April 8, 2020.

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No.30/2007/ND-CP dated March 01, 2007 on lottery business and Decree No .78/2012/ND-CP dated October 05, 2012 on amendments to a number of Articles of the Decree No. 30/2007/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 defining the function, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1109/QD-TTg dated July 11, 2011 approving the scheme on the establishment of computer-generated lottery enterprises in Vietnam;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions;

The Ministry of Finance promulgates a Circular providing guidance on computerized lottery business. [2]

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. This Circular provides guidance on the operation of computerized lottery business activities.

2. This Circular is applied to computer-generated lottery enterprises that are established and legally operate in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as “computer-generated lottery enterprise”, buyers/players, computer-generated lottery agents and units, organizations, individuals that are relevant to the computer-generated lottery business and the management thereof.

3. This Circular does not govern the computerized lottery business activities operated by the Thu Do construction lottery single-member limited liability company.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

For the purpose of this Circular, these terms below can be construed as follows:

1. “computer-generated lottery” means a form of lottery that is issued via terminal devices, landlines, mobile phones or the Internet and allows participants to select one or several numbers according to the rules for each lottery product.

2. “entry value” means the amount of money which a participant has to pay for the lottery ticket in order to participate in drawing lottery prizes. The required amount shall be specified in the lottery game rules.

3. “matrix-based lottery" means a type of lottery in which a participant may select one or several numbers in a matrix of natural numbers.

4. “number-based lottery" means a type of lottery in which a participant shall select one or several numbers in a series of natural numbers.

5. “quick draw lottery" means a type of lottery in which a participant shall select one or several numbers in the set of numbers; the drawing schedule for a day shall be specified in the rules of participation.

6. “physical lottery ticket” means a form of ticket issued by terminals and taken by participants who paid for entry.

7. “electronic lottery ticket” means a file in digital, audio or other form of information recording the entry of a participant in a lottery game of which tickets are distributed by landlines, mobile phones or internet in accordance with this Circular.

8. “account” means the participant’s account recording the entry of a participant in a lottery game of which tickets are distributed by landlines, mobile phones or internet in accordance with this Circular;

9. "planned payout rate" is the percentage (%) of the total value of prize categories on the total value of lottery tickets expected to be issued in each prize drawing.

10. “fixed payout” means a prize that is a fixed amount or a fixed number multiplied by (x) the entry value.

11. ”proportional payout” means a prize which is a percentage (%) of the revenue from each issue of the lottery enterprise.

12. “server” means an electronic system used for processing, managing and storing the information of participants taking part in the computerized lottery.

13. “terminals” means a fixed or mobile electronic devices recording, printing the chosen numbers of participants and checking the winning tickets. Terminals can be operated by the computer-generated lottery enterprise or authorized lottery agents.

Chapter II

PRODUCTS, PARTICIPANTS AND THE RULES OF PARTICIPATION

Article 3. Computerized lottery products

1. Types of computerized lottery products:

a) Matrix-based lottery;

b) Number-based lottery;

c) Quick draw lottery;

d) Other computerized lottery products approved by the Ministry of Finance.

2. Based on types of lottery specified in clause 1 of this Article and the result of on-field market survey, the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall establish the specific list of lottery types to be issued, submit Ministry of Finance for consideration and approval as prescribed in Article 34 of this Circular.

3. A computerized lottery product shall meet the following requirements:

a) The rules shall be simple and easy to understand;

b) The product is suitable for market demand and tastes of participants;

c) Payout options and planned payout rates shall be suitable for each lottery product and structure of prizes prescribed in this Circular.

Article 4. Lottery buyers

1. A lottery buyer shall:

a) be a Vietnamese citizen living in Vietnam or overseas, or a foreigner who has legally entered Vietnam ;

b) be aged 18 years or older; and

c) have full legal capacity in accordance with Vietnamese law. In case of applied provisions of international treaties in which Vietnam is a member are different from the Vietnamese ones, the provisions of international treaties shall prevail.

2. Every lottery buyer has the right to:

a) receive the payout from the lottery enterprise when he/she wins in accordance with the lottery game rules;

b) request the lottery enterprise to protect the information of his/her win and the prize; and

c) other lawful benefits as prescribed at the Rules of participation.

3. Every lottery buyer has the responsibility to:

a) comply with the lottery game rules and other relevant provisions in this Circular;

b) when winning the prize, present the winning ticket(s) and other documents proving fulfillment of the conditions prescribed in clause 1 of this Article to receive the prizes; and

c) Fulfill their tax obligation in accordance with law.

Article 5. Entry value

One entry for each lottery product is equivalent to the maximum of 10.000 VND. The specific amount for one entry shall be specified in the lottery enterprise’ rules.

Article 6. Lottery game rules

1. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall establish the rules of participation for each product of computerized lottery. The rules of participation shall consist of the following contents:

a) Product name;

b) Name of the enterprise issuing tickets;

c) Buyers and conditions for buyings;

d) Methods of participation;

dd) The value of one entry;

e) Methods of verifying the result;

g) The quantity and structure of prizes;

h) The methods of ticket distribution;

i) The schedule of drawing;

k) Conditions to receive prizes for winning tickets;

l) Responsibility and rights of participants;

m) Responsibility and rights of computer-generated lottery enterprises;

n) Recommendations regarding buyers’ self-control.

2. After receiving approval from the Ministry of Finance as prescribed in Article 34 of this Circular, the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall publicize the rules of participation before issuing tickets.

3. The publicity of the rules of participation shall be made by posting at the head office, branches, executive offices and shops (if any) of the enterprise and lottery agents on the enterprise's website and publicized at the prize drawing location, issuing leaflets for lottery agents and participants or on other means of mass media in accordance with law.

Article 7. The planned payout rate and structure of prizes

1. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall calculate and set payout rate for each lottery product , which shall not exceed 60% of the expected total value of tickets issued.

2. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall establish the payout rate, the quantity and structure of prizes for each product and submit them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and approval as prescribed in Article 34 and Article 6 of this Circular.

Article 8. Types of payouts

1. Payout options are as follows:

a) fixed payout;

b) proportional payout;

c) combination of both payment option specified in point a and b of this clause.

2. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall select the suitable payout option for each lottery product from listed options in clause 1 of this Article and submit to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and approval in accordance with Article 34 of this Circular.

Chapter III

ISSUE AND DISTRIBUTE COMPUTERIZED LOTTERY TICKETS

Article 9. Methods of distributing computerized lottery tickets

Computerized lottery tickets are distributed via the following methods:

1. Direct sale to customers through terminals.

2. Sale via landlines and mobile phones.

3. Online sale. This method is only available after the computer-generated lottery enterprise receives approval from the Ministry of Finance.

Article 10. Areas for issuance of computer-generated lottery tickets

1. Computer-generated lottery enterprise can distribute lottery tickets via terminals nationwide. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall submit application to the Ministry of Finance for approval before deploying operation at a new location.

2. Computer-generated lottery enterprise can distribute lottery tickets via landlines, mobile phones and internet nationwide.

Article 11. Schedule of tickets issuance

1. Computer-generated lottery tickets are issued every day, except for special cases announced by the computer-generated lottery enterprise.

2. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall publicize the non-issuing date in no later than 5 working days before the date hereof. The publicity of the non-issuing date shall be made by posting at the head office, branches, executive offices and shops (if any) of the enterprise and lottery agents on the enterprise's website and publicized at the prize drawing place, issuing leaflets for lottery agents and participants or on other means of mass media.

3. The issuance of computerized lottery tickets shall be ended no later than 15 minutes before the beginning of the prize drawing as prescribed in Article 17 of this Circular. In case of dailies type, the tickets issuance shall end before the beginning of the prize drawing.

Article 12. Computerized lottery tickets

1. The computerized lottery tickets can be issued in form of printed tickets or electronic tickets depending on methods of distributing products prescribed in Article 9 of this Circular.

2. A physical ticket shall consist of the following contents:

a) Name of the enterprise issuing the ticket;

b) Name of the lottery type;

c) Entry numbers;

d) Entry value;

dd ) Date and time of issuance;

e) Date of prize drawing and time limit for receiving prizes;

g) Symbol of the lottery agent or the terminal;

h) Symbols or codes of identification and against counterfeiting;

i) Other information at request of the computer-generated lottery enterprise prescribed by law.

3. An electronic ticket shall consist of the following contents:

a) Contents prescribed in point a, b, c, d, dd and e clause 2 of this Article;

b) Account number.

4. The rules of cancellation of tickets purchased before the beginning of drawing

a) In case of tickets distributed via terminals

- In case of matrix-based and number-based tickets, the buyers may cancel the tickets they purchased by using terminals at lottery agents no later than 30 minutes before the beginning of prize drawing. Cancelled tickets cannot be used to claim prizes.

- Quick draw tickets cannot be cancelled once purchased.

b) computer-generated tickets distributed via landlines, mobile phones and internet cannot be cancelled once purchased.

Article 13. The number sheet

1. Number sheets are used for guiding participants to complete the following tasks:

a) Pick numbers to make entries or choose Quick pick option and handle to sellers to input participants' choices into terminals;

b) compare the accuracy of information printed on the lottery tickets with the numbers chosen from the number sheet.

2. Number sheets cannot be used to claim prizes.

3. A number sheet shall:

a) Be clearly printed and contain adequate information for participants to fill in;

b) Contain specific instructions on marking entry numbers.

Article 14. Buyers’ accounts

1. Buyers shall register for an account at the computer-generated lottery enterprise to be able to take part in lottery activities via landlines, mobile phones or internet.

2. When registering entry account, participants shall fully provide required information and take responsibility for registered information. The required information of a participant is as follows:

a) Full name of the participant;

b) Date of birth;

c) The numbers of conventional or non-conventional ID card or passport with the date of issue and issuer;

d) The administrative area in which the ticket is bought;

dd) Account opened at non-cash payment service providers or payment intermediary service providers in accordance with the law on non-cash payment;

e) Other contents requested by the computer-generated lottery enterprises.

3. After the registration of participants, the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall provide first-time account code and password for them to access when participating in prize drawing. Participants shall be responsible for managing and protecting their accounts and passwords during participation.

4. In case a participant is not qualified as prescribed in clause 1 Article 4 of this Circular, the enterprise shall have the right to refuse to pay the unqualified winner.

Article 15. Lottery agents

1. A computer-generated lottery agent (hereinafter referred to as “lottery agent”) any organization or individual that signs a contract with a computer-generated lottery enterprise for distributing tickets and giving prizes to winners. Lottery agents are allowed to sign contracts with organizations and individuals for distributing tickets at fixed prices and receiving commissions. Organizations and individuals hired by lottery agents shall be concerned as lottery agents. Computerized lottery agents shall inform the computer-generated lottery enterprise of hired organizations and individuals for tax management.

2. The requirements of lottery agents are specified in clause 2 Article 12 of Circular No. 30/2007/ND-CP by the Government on lottery business and other documents of amendment, replacement (if any). In addition to the mentioned provisions, the following organizations and individuals shall not become lottery agents:

a) Officials, members working in organizations which cooperate with the computer-generated lottery enterprise to operate the lottery systems (if any);

b) Spouse, biological father or mother, adoptive father or mother, children, adopted children, biological sisters or brothers, adoptive sisters of individuals who are heads or deputies of professional departments and above of the organization cooperating with the computer-generated lottery enterprise (if any);

c) Economic organizations owning the contributed capital of spouse, biological father or mother, adoptive father or mother, children, adopted children, biological sisters or brothers, adoptive sisters of individuals who are heads, deputies of professional departments and above of the organization cooperating with the computer-generated lottery enterprise (if any);

3. Lottery agents shall meet the following requirements:

a) Have a stable business location, sufficient space, facilities and other necessary conditions to install the lottery ticket sale system;

b) Have employees who can accurately operate the lottery sale system confirmed or certified by the computer-generated lottery enterprise;

c) Sign the written commitment to fully comply with the regulations of the computer-generated lottery enterprise when becoming the authorized lottery agent.

4. Contract of lottery agent:

The contract of lottery agent shall have the following contents:

a) Name, address and information of representatives of both sides;

b) Type of computerized lottery received for sale;

c) The allowed methods of distributing lottery tickets;

d) Rate of agent commission; rate of the charges enjoyed from payment for lottery tickets winning prizes (if any);

dd) Location and method of transfer of revenue from lottery ticket sale, time of transfer, debt term;

e) The sales target decided by the lottery agent. The sales target is adjusted in each period according to policies of the computer-generated lottery tickets;

g) Forms to guarantee performance of payment obligation;

h) Responsibilities and rights of sides signing contract;

i) Actions against violations and commitments to pay compensation for breaking contract;

k) Effective period of the contract.

5. Transfer of revenue from sale of lottery tickets and surety by lottery agents:

a) Payment for amounts from sale of lottery tickets:

- Lottery agents must pay full for lottery tickets received for sale to lottery enterprises when receiving lottery tickets of lottery enterprises;

- In case when the lottery enterprise allows a lottery agent delay transferring the revenue from sale of lottery tickets, the delay shall not exceed 15 days from the prize drawing day. Based on actual conditions, characteristics of issuance, number of drawing times for prizes of computerized lottery, the lottery enterprise may decide specifically on time limit for completing the payment of amounts purchasing lottery tickets of agents but not exceed the set levels mentioned above;

- If a lottery agent fails to pay or pays insufficiently to lottery enterprises as signed in the contract when the time limit of payment for purchasing lottery tickets arrives, the lottery enterprise can stop such lottery agents from selling tickets and apply necessary measures for recovery of the amounts from sale of lottery tickets as prescribed by laws on secured transactions, secured property handling and other related law provisions.

b) Guarantee for payment obligation of lottery agents:

- The lottery enterprise shall request the lottery agent to register its collateral used for guarantee of payment obligations;

- Methods of guarantee of payment obligations are specified in Article 13 of Decree 30/2007/ND-CP dated March 01 2007 by the Government on lottery business, other documents of amendment and replacement (if any) and other provisions on secured transactions;

- The surety paid by a lottery agent to the lottery enterprise is specified as follows:

+ In case the lottery agent has set the sales target but has not issue tickets, the surety equals (=) the sales target minus (-) the commission to which the lottery agent is entitled;

+ In case the lottery agent has confirmed the actual revenue , the guaranteed level for payment obligation of the lottery agent to the lottery enterprise is 100% of the actual revenue in the last 3 weeks minus (-) the commission to which the lottery agent is entitled;

- The procedures for registration of secured transactions of assets put up as surety are implemented as prescribed in law on secured transactions;

- Lottery enterprises must assess value of assets put up as surety at the time of receiving the assets; reassess the value periodically or whenever necessary. For properties as real estate, movable assets used as surety but lottery enterprises fail to have sufficient capability for valuation, lottery enterprises may hire organizations having function on evaluation to determine the value of assets used as surety. Expenses for evaluation may be included in the business operational expenses of lottery enterprises.

6. The computer-generated lottery enterprise is responsible for developing and issuing general standards on surface area, design, facilities and conditions necessary to install and operate the lottery ticket sale system and other regulations on lottery agents in accordance with each method of distributing lottery tickets and requirements of management from the computer lottery enterprise.

7. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall select the suitable organization and individual to set as lottery agents in accordance with conditions and standards specified in clause 2,3 and 6 of this Article. The selection of lottery agents shall ensure objectivity, publicity and transparency.

8. Lottery agents shall fulfill their tax obligation in accordance with law.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION OF THE DRAWING PROCESS

Section 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE DRAWING

Article 16. Schedule of drawing

The computer-generated lottery enterprise is allowed to hold prize drawing 3 times a week for each type of computerized lottery, except for the (quick draw lottery). The drawing schedule of each type of lottery shall be approved by the Ministry of Finance as prescribed in Article 34 of this Circular.

Article 17. Location and time of drawing

1. The prize drawing is performed at head office of the lottery enterprise or another location which must located in the same province as the head office.

2. Organizations issuing lottery tickets may decide the specific time of drawing but not later than 18:30 PM of the date of prize drawing. In case of quick draw lottery, the time of drawing shall not end later than 22:00 PM of the date of prize drawing.

Article 18. Drawings by rotary cage

Use and management of rotary cages shall comply with Article 35 of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance and subsequent amendments or substitutions (if any).

Article 19. The electronic drawing system

1. The electronic drawing system consists of:

a) The automatic drawing device consists of hardware system and automatic drawing software;

b) The camera and screen system for the purpose of monitoring the automatic drawing software.

2. The automatic drawing device shall meet the following requirements:

a) Have clear origin and meet the requirements of standards and technical specification of the manufacturer, and inspected by an independent inspection company;

b) Operate safely and guarantee that the drawing’s randomness is not intervened by outside factors;

c) Have at least one backup device;

d) The automatic drawing device shall be installed and operated in a sealed and separated area during operation to ensure that the hardware and software of the system are not intervened by unauthorized persons;

dd) The automatic drawing device shall be examined and maintained according to the manufacturers' recommendations and regulations of computer-generated lottery enterprise. The lottery enterprise shall ensure that the system is examined and maintained at least one time after 6 months of operation.

3. The camera and screen system shall be arranged in positions ensuring clear view for monitoring the drawing process. Camera footage of the drawing shall be stored in at least 60 days counted from the day of drawing.

Article 20. Drawing staff

Drawing staff shall comply with Article 26 of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on computerized lottery business operation and its amending or replacing documents (if any).

Article 21. The rules of drawing

1. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall establish and publicize the rules of drawing to participants for monitoring and supervising. The rules of drawing shall consist of the following contents:

a) Date, time and location of drawing;

b) Type of computerized lottery;

c) Form of drawing;

d) Prizes and the drawing order of each prize;

dd) Process of drawing;

e) Technical standards of balls used for rotating number for prizes (volume, size, tolerance on volume, size in the allowed limit);

g) List of individuals, unit supervising the drawing.

2. The drawing rules shall be established for each approved type of computerized lottery.

3. The drawing rules shall be posted at the head office, branches, executive offices and shops (if any) of the enterprise and lottery agents on the enterprise's website and publicized at the prize drawing location.

Article 22. Process of drawing

1. In case of drawings by rotary cages:

a) Preparation for drawing consists of the following events:

- Randomly select persons participating in draw for prizes;

- Randomly select and unseal the ball sets used for drawing;

- Unseal the rotary cage;

- Check other necessary conditions serving for activities of prize drawing.

b) The prize drawing consists of two affairs:

- Test the rotary cage. In case of detecting problems, operators shall clearly identify the reason to have handling measures such as replacing the cage or balls, or suspension of the prize drawing;

- Official drawing: The official drawing shall be carried out in the order of the prizes announced in the drawing rules.

c) Drawing result confirmation: The drawing result shall be recorded in writing and confirmed by the Supervising council of computerized lottery (hereinafter referred to as the Supervising council) that the result is objective, honest and conformable with the rules of participation.

d) The entire process of prizes drawing shall be examined and verified by the auditing unit that the process is in compliance with the publicized drawing rules.

2. Electronic drawings shall be automatic and follow the schedule of the drawing software and must meet the following requirements:

a) The lottery system shall automatically stop selling tickets, calculate the revenue and purchased numbers for the drawing of relevant type before the beginning of drawing;

b) The drawing software shall create a totally random result;

c) The drawing result is directly announced to participants in online screenings set at lottery agents or by other means;

d) The data transfer between the lottery system to the automatic drawing device and the automatic drawing device to screenings at lottery agents or other means shall not interfere with drawing result;

dd) The hardware and software system shall automatically save the drawing result for management purposes;

e) The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall take legal responsibility for ensuring that the electronic drawings are automatic, accurate, safe, stable, objective and transparent.

Article 23. Result announcement

1. In case of matrix-based, numbers game and other types of lottery: Based on the confirmation report of the Supervision council, the competent representative of the enterprise shall sign the result notice which will be the basis for comparison and prize payment of winners.

2. In case of dailies game: The result is directly announced to participants in online screenings set at lottery agents or by other means.

3. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall publicized the drawing result after finishing drawing. The publicity of drawing result shall be made by posting at the head office, branches, executive offices and shops (if any) of the enterprise and lottery agents on the enterprise's website and publicized at the prize drawing location.

Section 2. SUPERVISE THE DRAWING OF COMPUTERIZED LOTTERY

Article 24. Components of the Supervising council

1. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall establish the Supervising council and issue its regulation of operation so as to perform supervision on drawing and periodic inspection of drawing equipment as prescribed in Article 25 and 26 of this Circular.

2. The Supervising council shall consist of components as follows:

a) The position of President of the council shall be held by the President or General Director of the computer-generated lottery enterprise;

b) The position of Vice president of the council shall be held by the Vice president or Chief Accountant of the computer-generated lottery enterprise;

c) [3] Members of the council shall be heads of departments and branches of the enterprise;

d) Representatives of some socio-political organizations can be invited to join as members of the Supervising council.

3. The presence of all members in the Supervising council is required when the council is performing tasks. In case of objective reasons, the Supervising council shall only perform its tasks in the presence of the President or Vice President and 2 members from the council.

3a. [4] In case the quantity of Supervising Council’s members specified in Clause 2 of this Article is not adequate due to a force majeure event such as natural disaster, epidemic or conflagration and other emergency cases decided by the competent authority, the computer-generated lottery enterprise is entitled to add a Vice President who is, in the following order of priority, head of a department, director of a branch; deputy head of a department, deputy director of a branch of the computer-generated lottery enterprise. If the quantity of members specified in this Article is not adequate, the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall issue a decision to suspend the drawing and make the decision publicly available at its head office, branches, executive offices or shops (if any), computer-generated lottery agents, on its website or other mass media in accordance with regulations of law. The following shall be made publicly available: reasons for suspension, expected date of the next drawing, lottery tickets distributed and other information requested by the computer-generated lottery enterprise in accordance with regulations of law.

4. The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall change members in the Supervising council in the following cases:

a) Move for a new job;

b) Violate working discipline;

c) Violate the council’s regulation during performing tasks;

d) Resign in accordance with law;

dd) Other necessary cases.

Article 25. Tasks and entitlements of Supervising council in monitoring drawing process

1. In case of drawings by rotary cages:

a) Tasks of Supervising council:

- Supervise the drawing process of the computer-generated lottery enterprise as prescribed in this Circular and ensure the transparency, publicity and honesty;

- Right after the expiry of tickets issuance specified in Article 11 of this Circular, a representative of the Supervising council shall lock the host servers so as to prevent extra ticket;

- Examine and verify the quantity and origin of drawing equipment in accordance with provisions of this Circular;

- Check the operation of drawing equipment before drawing;

- Appoint one member or randomly invite one of the witnesses to select at random the ball sets used for drawing;

- Appoint one member to seal and break the seal of drawing equipment (rotary cages, boxes for set of balls, electronic scale, devices checking size of balls);

- Check the setting of cameras and screens to ensure that the drawing process can be supervised by the Supervising council and witnesses;

- Supervise the implementation of time, location as prescribed; announce the drawing rules and the steps of drawing;

- Supervise the performance of drawing staff during the drawing process;

- Sign the record of confirmation of the supervised result and drawing result. The confirmation of the Supervising council is the basis for the computer-generated lottery enterprise to publicize the drawing result as prescribed.

- Sign on the seal of the CD containing the purchased numbers of each draw.

b) Tasks of Supervising council:

- Request for suspension of drawing in the following cases:

+ The seal on drawing equipment is broken before the Supervising council conducting drawing;

+ Drawing equipment is not qualified in according to law to generate result with objectivity and honestly;

+ Drawing process is not conducted at the announced time and/or location;

+ Sign of cheating is detected during drawing;

+ The host system and/or terminals fail to perform continuously 6 hours during the publicized working time;

+ The system cannot close the ticket issuance before the drawing time as prescribed;

+ Detect problems causing malfunctions in the lottery system, for which may affect the objectivity and fairness of drawing result.

- Request for re-drawing in the following cases:

+ The drawing order for each prize category is not the same as the one announced in the drawing rules;

+ Same result for all prize categories.

2. In case of electronic drawings:

a) Tasks of Supervising council before drawing:

- Examine and verify the quantity and origin of drawing equipment in accordance with provisions of this Circular and documents on inspection of drawing equipment which were inspected by independent inspection companies. Examine and verify that drawing equipment meet the standards and have enough technical specifications according to the manufacturer’s manual before using;

- Seal the drawing equipment and the area with drawing equipment; ensure that there is no outside intervention to the drawing equipment during its operation.

b) The daily task of Supervising council:

Sign on the seal of the CD containing the purchased numbers of the previous day's drawing. In case of non-working day, the Supervising council shall sign the CD's seal on the next working day.

c) Entitlements of Supervising council:

Request for suspension of drawing in the following cases:

- The seal on drawing equipments and/or area storing drawing equipments is broken before the Supervising council conducting drawing;

- Drawing process is not conducted at the same time and/or location as announced;

- The host system and/or terminals fail to perform continuously 6 hours during the publicized working time;

- The system cannot close the ticket issuance before the drawing time as prescribed;

- Detect problems causing malfunctions in the lottery system, for which may affect the objectivity and fairness of drawing result.

Article 26. Tasks and entitlements of Supervising council in monitoring periodic inspections of drawing equipment

1. Tasks of Supervising council: Examine and verify the test of rotary cages and electronic drawing devices before drawing and after maintaining to ensure that the equipment is qualified in accordance with standards.

2. Entitlements of Supervising council: Request the computer-generated lottery enterprise to purchase new equipment, remove or replace unqualified devices to ensure the operation of drawing.

Article 27. Tasks and entitlements of auditing units in monitoring drawing processes and periodic inspections of drawing equipment

1. Independent auditing units assigned to audit a public service unit shall examine and verify the contents relating to the process of drawing and examine the drawing equipment according to provisions of this Circular. Specific descriptions of tasks performed by the auditing unit relating to the process of drawing and examine the drawing equipment must be shown in the compliance report of the auditing unit.

2. Examine and verify contents relating to drawing as follows:

a) In case of drawings by rotary cages:

- Examine and verify that the Supervising council has locked the host servers so as to prevent extra ticket right after the expiry of issuance;

- Examine and verify that the drawing process is conformable with the drawing rules which were publicized and provisions of this Circular;

- Examine and verify that the computer-generated lottery enterprise has confirmed and signed on the revenue summary report;

- Examine and verify the process of saving and sealing the data of participants’ numbers of each draw;

- Examine and verify that the drawing result of Supervising council is matched up with the actual result.

b) In case of electronic drawings:

- Examine and verify the quantity and origin of drawing equipment in accordance with provisions of this Circular and documents on inspection of drawing equipment which were inspected by independent inspection companies. Examine and verify that drawing equipment meet the standards and have enough technical specifications according to the manufacturer’s manual before drawing;

- Examine and verify that the drawing process is conformable with the drawing rules which were publicized and provisions of this Circular;

- Examine and verify that the computer-generated lottery enterprise has confirmed and signed on the revenue summary report;

- Examine and verify the process of saving and sealing the data of participants’ numbers of each draw;

- Examine and verify that the drawing result of Supervising council is matched up with the result recorded on the system.

3. Examine and verify that the result of periodic inspections on drawing equipment is matched up with the real conditions of inspected equipment. Examine and verify that inspected equipment is qualified in accordance with standards.

4. Computerised lottery enterprises shall replace the current auditing units with different ones every 03 years to ensure the objectivity and transparency.

Article 28. Drawing cost and supervision cost

1. Expenses for hiring auditing units to examine and verify information relating to drawing and periodic inspection of drawing equipment shall be accounted into the drawing cost as prescribed in point a clause 4 Article 5 of Decree No.122/2017/ND-CP on financial management and performance assessment of lottery enterprises, Stock exchanges and Vietnam Securities Depository (hereinafter referred to as Decree No.122/2017/ND-CP) and other documents of amendment, replacement (if any).

2. Members of supervising council who are not from the computer-generated lottery enterprise (if any) shall receive the remuneration in accordance with point b clause 4 Article 5 of Decree No. 122/2017/ND-CP. Payment of remunerations to members with mentioned condition shall depend on the approval by the representative agency of state capital owner according to the request by the lottery enterprise. Determination of such remunerations shall base on each member’s performance so as to emphasize his/her responsibility to fulfill supervisory duties.

Chapter V

PRIZES PAYMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WINNING TICKETS

Article 29. Regulations on prizes payment

1. Time limit for receiving prizes and duration of paying prizes:

a) Time limit for receiving prizes of the winning tickets is 60 days counted from date of defining result of winning prizes or expiry date of circulating lottery ticket. If pass this time limit, the winning lottery tickets are no longer valid for receiving prizes;

b) Computerised lottery enterprises shall pay prizes at their head offices, branches, representative offices, stores (if any) and authorized lottery agents;

c) Duration of payment for the winning lottery tickets of lottery enterprises to the lottery winner is not later than 05 working days, after receiving request for prizes of customers;

d) In cases of arising disputes, complaints, the duration for payment may be prolonged until having official conclusion of competent state agencies.

2. Conditions of winning tickets:

a) In case of printed lottery tickets: The winning tickets of participants shall remain intact, have no sign of editing, correcting, patch working and still in time limit of receiving prizes as prescribed.

In case the winning lottery tickets are torn due to some objective reasons but still have sufficient grounds to identify the initial form, authenticity of tickets, not belong to subjects suspected for fraudulence, and the torn position does not influence to elements for defining on winning prizes, lottery enterprises may verify and decide the payment for prizes or refusal for paying prizes to customers. The final decision shall be made by Chairmen or General Directors of computerized lottery enterprises as specified in the rules of participation.

b) In case of electronic lottery tickets: The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall pay prize to the winner whose information has been verified by comparing the winner's information of participation recorded in the enterprise’s system with the registered information specified in clause 3 of Article 12 and Article 14 of this Circular.

c) Based on provisions of point a and b clause 2 of this Article, computerized lottery enterprises shall specify the conditions of winning tickets in the rules of participation.

3. Confidentiality of information about prize payment:

The protection for confidentiality of information about prize payment shall comply with provisions in Article 32 of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on lottery business operation and other documents of amendment, replacement (if any).

4. Authorization of receiving prizes:

The authorization of receiving prizes shall comply with provisions in Article 33 of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on lottery business operation and other documents of amendment, replacement (if any).

5. Authorization for paying prizes:

a) Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall have the right of authorizing lottery agencies to pay prizes for winners;

b) The authorization for paying prizes shall meet the following requirements:

- Based on the capability of each lottery agent, computerized lottery enterprises shall decide value of prizes to authorize the payment of prizes to each lottery agent;

- The authorization must be presented in contract of agent signed between the computer-generated lottery enterprise and the computer-generated lottery agent;

- Agents receiving authorization must take responsibility for the accuracy, honesty of the winning tickets that they have paid prizes and they are not permitted to collect any charges from the winners. Agents are responsible to law if customers have complaints about collection of charges from winners;

- Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall examine lottery agencies in implementing the authorization of paying prizes. In case of detecting a lottery agent’s violation of law and/or breach of contract signed on the authorization of paying prizes, the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall have the right of terminating the mentioned authority of that lottery agent.

Article 30. Winning tickets management

1. In case of printed lottery tickets: Implement provisions specified in Article 35 of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on lottery business operation and other documents of amendment, replacement (if any);

 In case of printed tickets’ information stored in electronic form: Implement current provisions of managing, storing and deleting electronic documents.

2. In case of electronic lottery: Implement current provisions of managing, storing and deleting electronic documents.

Chapter VI

COMPUTERIZED LOTTERY BUSINESS OPERATION

Article 31. Conditions of conducting business

1. Computerised lottery enterprises shall have qualified lottery systems and equipment as prescribed in Article 32 of this Circular.

2. Computerised lottery enterprises shall have their types of lottery approved by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with Article 34 of this Circular.

Article 32. Requirements of lottery systems

1. Host servers and terminals shall meet the following requirements:

a) Host servers and terminals shall have clear origin or legally imported to Vietnam in case of importing;

b) Instruction manuals shall be included with machines and equipment, in which shall have the information of technical specifications, assembly and installation guidance, specific diagrams of details, instruction for maintenance, list of replacement parts and information about operation and warranty;

c) Machines and equipment shall be assembled and installed in accordance with manufacturers’ guidance to ensure the safety and stability in operation;

d) Terminals shall have the ability of integrating 02 data transmission channels connecting to the host server to ensure the data transfer in case the main channel fails to perform its task;

dd) Backup host servers shall be prepared and parallel perform to the main host ones to save the data of participants.

2. The installed software shall meet the following requirements:

a) The copyright of the software shall be in line with law;

b) Software for lottery activities shall be designed in compliance with law and rules of participation of each lottery type;

c) Ensure the data of participants is promptly and exactly recorded; exactly calculate the revenue, the value of prizes, verify the information of winning tickets etc. In case of quick draw lottery, the randomness must be ensured;

d) Have high security to block outside intrusion which may distort the data of participation and other data serving the organization of prize drawing.

3. The data transmission system (including terminals, telephone system and internet) for conducting computerized lottery business activities shall meet the following requirements:

a) Have high stability, speed of flow and transmission meet the requirements of exchange information and be able to timely process information between server, terminal devices, telephone systems and equipment related to operation;

b) Ensure the security and confidentiality of information about users using telephone services in accordance with law;

c) Ensure the information of participants (in the form of file or recording) shall be fully and exactly recorded. The recorded information of participants is the basis for the computerizes lottery enterprise to manage, monitor and pay prizes for the winner.

Article 33. The operation of lottery systems and the management, exploitation of data

1. The operation of lottery systems:

a) The computer-generated lottery enterprise shall be responsible for managing and operating the lottery system in accordance with law. Computer-generated lottery agents shall be responsible for operating the lottery system in accordance with the enterprise’s guidance. Social networking service and telecommunication enterprises taking part in the computerized lottery business shall be responsible for ensuring the cyber security and information security in accordance with law;

b) The lottery system (including host servers, terminals and other synchronous devices) shall be examined and maintained according to the manufacturers' recommendations and regulations of computer-generated lottery enterprise to ensure the safety and accuracy in operation;

c) Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall take responsibility for answering questions of participants, computer-generated lottery agents and others who concern and promptly handle any technical issue during the system’s operation.

2. The management and exploitation of data:

a) Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall establish the regulation of management and exploitation of data to serve their operation. Data stored in host servers must ensure honesty and accuracy;

b) Ministry of Finance and inspecting units, based on assigned functions, tasks and scopes, shall have the right to request the computer-generated lottery enterprise for providing data from host servers to serve the purpose of managing and monitoring. The Ministry of Finance and inspecting units shall take responsibility for managing and protecting the provided data in accordance with the State security regime;

c) The data of computer-generated lottery business activities shall be stored with the minimum of 5 years counted from the end of fiscal year. The necessary data for the financial management and accounting of the computer-generated lottery enterprise shall be extracted and printed into vouchers in accordance with law.

Article 34. Application of request and approval

1. Computerised lottery enterprises shall have each lottery type approved by the Ministry of Finance. The request for approval application shall consist of:

a) The rules of participation in accordance with Article 6 of this Circular;

b) The planned prize payment rate in accordance with Article 7 of this Circular;

c) The payout options in accordance with Article 8 of this Circular;

d) The methods of ticket distribution in accordance with Article 9 of this Circular;

dd) Areas of lottery issuance in accordance with Article 10 of this Circular;

e) Expected issuance date in accordance with Article 11 of this Circular;

2. Computerised lottery enterprises shall establish the list of lottery types to be issued and the application for each type in accordance with clause 1 of this Article 1 of to request the Ministry of Finance for approval.

3. Ministry of Finance shall send the document of approval of each requested lottery type, in which shall consist of:

a) The name of the lottery type;

b) The methods of ticket distribution;

c) The payout options;

d) Areas of lottery issuance;

dd) Issuance date;

e) The schedule of drawing.

Chapter VII

RESPONSIBILITIES OF ORGANISATIONS

Article 35. Responsibilities of Ministry of Finance

1. Examine, monitor the implementation of issuing computerized lottery tickets and conducting computerized lottery business activities as prescribed in this Circular and other relevant legislative documents.

2. Approve the remuneration regime of members in Supervising council in accordance with clause 2 Article 28 of this Circular.

3. Perform other tasks as prescribed in this Circular and other relevant legislative documents.

Article 36. Responsibilities of People’s Committee of provinces and central-affiliated cities

1. Cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in inspection, examination and monitor the computerized lottery business activities performed by local enterprises.

2. Direct the local one-member LLC of construction lottery to cooperate and support the computer-generated lottery enterprise in locally issuing and distributing computerized lottery tickets.

Article 37. Responsibilities of computer-generated lottery enterprises

1. Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall issue relevant management processes and regulations, and perform tasks of managing and operating the system of computer-generated lottery as prescribed in this Circular.

2. Issue tickets in exact types of computerized lottery prescribed in this Circular.

3. Establish the Supervising council and its regulations of operation.

4. Strictly implement this Circular and other provisions related to computerized lottery business and take responsibility to the law for the performance.

5. Computer-generated lottery enterprises shall fulfill their tax obligation in accordance with law.

Article 38. Responsibilities of auditing units

Independent auditing units assigned to audit a public service unit shall examine and verify the contents relating to the process of drawing and examine the drawing equipment according to provisions of this Circular. Independent auditing units shall be responsible to participants and clients for the result and verification of related contents.

Chapter VIII

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 39. Implementation clause [5]

1. This Circular takes effect on August 01 2019.

2. This Circular replaces Circular No. 136/2013/TT-BTC dated October 03 2013 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on lottery business.

3. In the course of implementation, any arising problem shall be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and handling./.

[1] This document is consolidated from following 2 Circulars:

- Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Minister of Finance providing guidance on computerized lottery business, coming into force as of August 1, 2019.

- Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC dated April 8, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance on amendments to Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Minister of Finance providing guidance on computerized lottery business, coming into force as of April 8, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as 21/2020/TT-BTC).

This consolidated document does not replace 2 mentioned Circulars.

[2] Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC has the following bases for promulgation:

“Pursuant to Government’s Decree No.30/2007/ND-CP dated March 01, 2007 on lottery business and Decree No .78/2012/ND-CP dated October 05, 2012 on amendments to a number of Articles of the Decree No. 30/2007/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 defining the function, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1109/QD-TTg dated July 11, 2011 approving the scheme on the establishment of computer-generated lottery enterprises in Vietnam;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions;

The Minister of Finance hereby promulgates a Circular on amendments to some Articles of the Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on computer-generated lottery business.”

[3] This point is amended by clause 1, Article 1 Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC, coming into force as of April 8, 2020.

[4] This point is amended by clause 1, Article 1 Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC, coming into force as of April 8, 2020.

[5] Article 2 Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BTC stipulates as follows:

“Article 2. Implementation clause

1. This Circular comes into force from the date on which it is signed.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration./.”