Thiruvonam Bumper lottery ticket sales surge in Kerala amid Centre’s GST hike

Kanhangad: With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike coming into effect on Monday, all lottery offices across Kerala remained open on Sunday to sell the Thiruvonam Bumper tickets. The current GST on Kerala lottery tickets is 28 percent, which will increase to 40 percent from Monday.

The face value of the Thiruvonam Bumper ticket is ₹391, but with GST, it is sold for ₹500. If sales were to extend to Monday, the face value would need to be reduced to ₹357. To avoid this adjustment, lottery offices are opening on Sunday to ensure tickets are distributed before the tax increase.

How does the GST hike affect daily lottery tickets?

While the GST increase impacts the bumper tickets, there is no change in the price of daily lottery tickets, which are sold for ₹50, including a face value of ₹39 and 28 percent GST.

From Monday, the face value of daily tickets will be reduced to ₹35. The lottery department will compensate for this reduction by lowering the commission agents receive from prize money and through other measures.

When is Thiruvonam Bumper Draw?

The draw for the Thiruvonam Bumper is scheduled for 27 September. Normally, tickets are available from lottery offices until the day before the draw.

A total of 75 lakhs Thiruvonam Bumper tickets were printed. As of Saturday, 73 lakh tickets have been sold, with the remaining 2 lakh tickets is expected to be sold by Sunday. There has been a significant surge in ticket sales this year, although the expectation of selling over 30 lakh tickets in the final two weeks has been affected by the impending GST hike.