as introduced in the rajya sabhaon 6th december, 2019 bill no lxv of 2019 the prohibition of multi-digit lotteries bill, 2019 a billto prohibit sale and promotion of multi-digit lotteries and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the seventieth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the prohibition of multi-digit lotteries act, 2019short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires—5(a) "lottery" means a scheme, in whatever form, and by whatever name called,for distribution of prizes by lot or chance to persons participating in the lots or chances of a prize by purchasing tickets in proper form or through online;(b) "multi-digit lottery" means a lottery in which prizes are distributed to participating persons on the chances of matching of more than single digit518 of  2013(c) "organization" means any local or other authority functioning under the control of the central government or a state government and includes an undertaking established by or under a central, or a state act or which is controlled or financed wholly or substantially by funds, provided directly or indirectly by the central government or a state government or a government company as defined in the companies act, 2013prohibition of multi-digit lotteries3 no organization shall organize, conduct or promote multi-digit lottery or sell ordistribute or put for sale any multi-digit lottery ticket either in paper form or through online, in any manner whatsoever or receive or remit any money in pursuance thereofpenalty104 (1) where any contravention of the provisions of section 3 has been committed byany department of the central government or a state government or any other organization including companies or private individual, the head of such department or the person incharge of such organization, as the case may be, shall be guilty of offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished under sub-section (3);15provided that nothing contained in this section shall render such head of thedepartment or such person incharge liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence,20 25(2) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence undersub-section (1) has been committed by a department of the central government or state government or any organization and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any officer, other than the head of such department or the person incharge or such organization, such officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly(3) whoever commits an offence under sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both2 of 19745 notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 an offence under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailableoffences to be cognizable and non-bailable statement  of  objects  and  reasonslottery is species of gambling it generates a false sense of security amongst the poor who get addicted to it and ruin their lives the social cost of running lotteries was too high with the earning members of families getting addicted to lottery at present, states including kerala, punjab, maharashtra, sikkim, mizoram, nagaland, goa etc promote lottery these multidigit lotteries are now grappling the youth by entering through electronic mediathe first endeavour to ban lottery in india was in 1998 when the parliament, cutting across party lines, unanimously enacted the lotteries (regulation) act, 1998 (act no 17 of 1998) the 1998 act in addition to regulating lotteries, banned the single digit lottery and pre-announced number lotteries such was the momentum around the 1998 act that members of parliament who had participated in the debate had asked the central government to bring a law banning multi-digit lottery as wellthe bill proposes to ban all forms of multi-digit lottery including its online form across the country with a view to ensure that gullible people are not entrapped and looted by bogus claims of getting richer overnighthence, this billvijay  goel————— a billto prohibit sale and promotion of multi-digit lotteries and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto—————(shri vijay goel, mp)mgipmrnd—4324rs(s3)—11-12-2019