Home | Living | Licensing | Lottery Registration | Incidental non-commercial lotteries

Incidental non-commercial lotteries

An incidental non-commercial lottery is:

·        Not promoted for private gain; and
·        Is incidental to a non-commercial event.

Such examples may include a lottery held at a school fete or at a social event such as a dinner dance.  An event may be regarded as non-commercial if all the money raised at the event, including entrance fees, goes entirely to purposes that are not for private gain.  For example a fundraising social event with an entrance fee would be non-commercial if the profits went to a society but would be commercial if the profits were retained by the organiser.

The Act also specifies that:

I.      The promoter of the lottery must not deduct more than the amount prescribed by the Secretary of  State from the proceeds in respect of the expenses such as the cost of printing tickets, hire of equipment etc.  This is currently £250; (this may increase to £500 following DCMS consultation);

II.      No more than £250 can be spent on prizes; (this may increase to £500 following DCMS consultation;

III.      The lottery cannot involve a rollover of prizes from one lottery to another.

IV.      Tickets must be sold at the premises during the event, and the result made public while the event takes place (ie the draw must take place on the same day/night).

NOTE: The Licensing Act 2003 permits prizes of alcohol to be offered in lotteries without the need for a premises licence under the 2003 Act.