Circular No. 22/2021/TT-BTC on the establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervisory Council

CIRCULAR
Regulations on the establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervisory Council

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 30/2007/NĐ-CP dated March 1, 2007 of the Government on lottery business and Decree No. 78/2012/NĐ-CP dated October 5, 2012 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 30/2007/NĐ-CP dated March 1, 2007 of the Government on lottery business;

Pursuant to Decree No. 122/2017/NĐ-CP dated November 13, 2017 of the Government stipulating special contents regarding financial management mechanisms and effectiveness evaluation for lottery business enterprises; Securities Trading Exchange and Vietnam Securities Depository;

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

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating the establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular regulates the establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervisory Council for the lottery business activities of the Limited Liability Company for State Lottery organized by the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities as the state-owned enterprise representative body (hereinafter referred to as the State Lottery Company).

2. The establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervisory Council for the business activities of the Limited Liability Company for State Lottery organized by the Vietnam National Lottery Corporation for voluntary lottery number selection shall be implemented according to Circular No. 36/2019/TT-BTC dated June 17, 2019 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the voluntary lottery number selection business and other related documents amending, supplementing, or replacing it (if any).

Article 2. Applicability

1. State Lottery Company.

2. Lottery Supervisory Council.

3. Owner of the State Lottery Company.

4. Organizations and individuals related to lottery business activities.

Chapter II
COMPOSITION, AUTHORITY FOR ESTABLISHMENT
AND OPERATIONAL MECHANISMS OF THE LOTTERY SUPERVISORY COUNCIL

Article 3. Lottery Supervisory Council

1. The composition of the Lottery Supervisory Council includes the Chairman, some Vice Chairmen, and members of the Lottery Supervisory Council as follows:

a) Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council: is the representative of the People's Committee of the province or centrally-run city (hereinafter referred to as the Provincial People's Committee);

b) Vice Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council: is the representative of the provincial or centrally-run city departments of Finance, Public Security, Inspection, Justice (hereinafter referred to as the representatives of the departments);

c) Members of the Lottery Supervisory Council: are the representatives of the departments of Finance, Public Security, Inspection, Justice, and other departments of the province or centrally-run city; the Provincial People's Committee may invite the representative of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province or centrally-run city to participate in the Lottery Supervisory Council as a member;

d) Secretary of the Lottery Supervisory Council: is the representative of the State Lottery Company.

2. The Lottery Supervisory Council is established by the decision of the Provincial People's Committee upon the proposal of the Department of Finance. Depending on the scale of lottery business operations and actual conditions at the locality, the Provincial People's Committee decides:

a) The number of Vice Chairmen of the Lottery Supervisory Council as stipulated in point b, Clause 1 of this Article;

b) The number of members participating in the Lottery Supervisory Council from each department as stipulated in point c, Clause 1 of this Article;

c) Establishing a Working Group or a working unit of the Lottery Supervisory Council with the composition of representatives from the departments that are members of the Lottery Supervisory Council to carry out lottery supervision work as prescribed in this Circular. The tasks and powers of the Working Group or working unit of the Lottery Supervisory Council are regulated in the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council issued by the Provincial People's Committee.

3. Members of the Lottery Supervisory Council must not be related to each other including: spouse, biological father, biological mother, foster father, foster mother, child, adopted child, full brother, full sister, foster brother, foster sister.

4. When there is a change in the membership of the Lottery Supervisory Council, based on the personnel change proposal document of the agency having a representative in the Lottery Supervisory Council, the Department of Finance is responsible for compiling and submitting to the Provincial People's Committee for a decision on changing the personnel of the Lottery Supervisory Council. Personnel changes include:

a) Transfer to another position;

b) Violation of discipline at the workplace;

c) Violation of discipline during the performance of duties of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

d) Resignation or retirement according to the provisions of the law;

e) Other cases when necessary.

5. In case of force majeure such as natural disasters, epidemics, fires, and other urgent situations decided by competent state agencies leading to the Lottery Supervisory Council not being able to ensure its full composition as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the State Lottery Company decides to suspend the drawing of winning numbers and must immediately announce this at the headquarters, branches, representative offices, drawing locations of the State Lottery Company, lottery agents, and the company's electronic information website (if available) or other mass media according to the law. The announcement content includes: reasons for suspending the drawing of winning numbers, the expected time for the next drawing, handling of sold lottery tickets, and other information required by the management of the State Lottery Company in accordance with the law.

Article 4. Operation Mechanism of the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. The supervision and inspection activities of the Lottery Supervisory Council shall be based on the provisions of laws on lottery business, the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council, and the operational procedures and professional practices of the State Lottery Company.

2. The Lottery Supervisory Council operates under the principle of democratic centralism, with majority voting, specifically as follows:

a) For tasks specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 9 of this Circular, the supervision and inspection activities of the Lottery Supervisory Council must have at least the Chairman or one Vice-Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council; the Secretary of the Lottery Supervisory Council, and three members of the Lottery Supervisory Council present (in cases where the Working Group or assisting department executes the delegation of the Lottery Supervisory Council, it must also ensure the composition as prescribed above);

b) The organization of meetings of the Lottery Supervisory Council requires the presence of all participants as stipulated in the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council issued by the Provincial People's Committee;

c) The contents of meetings, supervisory and inspection activities of the Lottery Supervisory Council must be recorded in minutes and signed by all participating members. Issues with differing opinions shall be decided or passed when more than 50% of the attending members of the Lottery Supervisory Council agree. In cases where the number of agreeing and disagreeing members is equal, the decision will be implemented according to the proposal agreed upon by the Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council (or the Vice-Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council authorized if the Chairman is absent).

3. The Lottery Supervisory Council operates on a part-time basis, except for the representative of the State Lottery Company.

Article 5. Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. Duties of the Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) To be fully responsible for the implementation of the duties and powers of the Lottery Supervisory Council as prescribed in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

b) To assign specific tasks to each Vice-Chairman, member of the Lottery Supervisory Council, the Working Group or assisting department of the Lottery Supervisory Council, and coordinate and direct members to fulfill their assigned responsibilities effectively;

c) To report periodically and urgently on the lottery supervision activities to the Provincial People's Committee and implement measures to strengthen the organization and operation of the Lottery Supervisory Council in compliance with the law and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

2. Powers of the Chairman of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) To require the State Lottery Company, Vice-Chairmen of the Lottery Supervisory Council, and members of the Lottery Supervisory Council to comply with the provisions of the law and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

b) To approve the establishment and dissolution of the Lottery Monitoring Board as stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 13 of this Circular;

c) To approve the plan for delegating supervision over the recovery of unsold lottery tickets as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 13 of this Circular;

d) To examine and resolve complaints and suggestions from individuals and organizations regarding lottery supervision activities as prescribed;

e) To retain personal opinions on issues related to the results of supervision and the results of lottery draws;

f) To exercise other powers as prescribed in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 6. Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. Duties of the Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Shall be fully responsible to the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council for directing and managing the members of the Lottery Supervisory Council to perform their tasks and powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council according to the division of responsibilities and delegation by the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

b) Shall comply with legal provisions when performing duties in accordance with the prescribed system, operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council, and the division of responsibilities and delegation by the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

c) Shall promptly report to the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council on any violations or suspicious manifestations during the performance of tasks so that the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council can consider and decide on timely measures to address them.

2. Powers of the Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Shall require the Lottery Enterprise and the members of the Lottery Supervisory Council to comply with legal provisions and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council according to the assigned tasks and delegated authority;

b) Shall have the right to reserve personal opinions on issues related to the results of supervision and the results of drawing and awarding prizes;

c) Shall exercise other powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 7. Members of the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. Duties of the members of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Shall be responsible to the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council and the Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council for performing the tasks and powers of the Lottery Supervisory Council as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

b) Shall comply with legal provisions during the performance of tasks assigned by the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council or the Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council according to the prescribed system and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council;

c) Shall perform the tasks of the Lottery Supervisory Council according to the division of responsibilities and delegation by the Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council and the Deputy Chairperson of the Lottery Supervisory Council as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

2. Powers of the members of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Shall require the Lottery Enterprise to comply with legal provisions and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

b) Shall have the right to reserve personal opinions on issues related to the results of supervision and the results of drawing and awarding prizes;

c) Shall exercise other powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 8. Remuneration System for Participation in the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. Representatives of agencies participating in the Lottery Supervisory Council, the Working Group or working unit of the Lottery Supervisory Council, the Lottery Monitoring Board (except representatives of the Lottery Enterprise) shall receive remuneration as prescribed in Government Decree No. 122/2017/NĐ-CP dated November 13, 2017, which stipulates certain special contents regarding financial management mechanisms and effectiveness evaluation of operations for lottery business enterprises; the Securities Trading Center and the Vietnam Securities Depository and any amending, supplementing, or replacing documents (if any).

2. Based on the proposal of the Lottery Enterprise, the Department of Finance shall draft and submit to the People's Committee of the province for approval the level of remuneration ensuring the principles of thrift, efficiency, and suitability with the content of work performed, enhancing the responsibility of members in fulfilling supervisory tasks.

Chapter III
DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE LOTTERY SUPERVISORY COUNCIL

Article 9. Duties of the Lottery Supervisory Council

1. Supervise the organization of number drawing for prize announcement in accordance with Article 10 of this Circular.

2. Supervise periodic or spot checks on number-drawing equipment in accordance with point b, Clause 1, Article 10 and Article 11 of this Circular.

3. Supervise the recovery, counting, invalidation of unsold lottery tickets, stubs, or retained portions of manually drawn lottery tickets recovered in accordance with Article 12 of this Circular.

4. Supervise the recovery, counting, invalidation, sealing of unsold lottery tickets, stubs, or retained portions of manually drawn lottery tickets recovered in certain areas in accordance with Article 13 of this Circular.

5. Recommend to the Provincial People's Committee to instruct the Public Security agency and other local competent authorities to strengthen measures to combat illegal lotteries and fake lottery tickets in accordance with Article 14 of this Circular.

Article 10. Supervision of the Organization of Number Drawing for Prize Announcement

1. Duties of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Supervise the organization of number drawing for lottery products permitted to be operated by the State Lottery Company in accordance with the law;

b) Supervise and inspect the quantity and origin of equipment used for number drawing (number balls, control devices, electronic scales, ball inspection devices), technical specifications of the equipment according to the manufacturer's design, ensuring that the equipment used for number drawing meets the prescribed standards. In necessary cases, the Lottery Supervisory Council may be required to conduct spot inspections of all or part of the equipment used for number drawing in accordance with the above contents;

c) Supervise and inspect the sealing of the ball container before using it for number drawing;

d) Supervise and inspect the quantity and satisfaction of conditions for individuals selected to participate in number drawing according to the list and related documents provided by the State Lottery Company in accordance with regulations;

đ) Inspect the arrangement of imaging equipment (cameras, television screens) to ensure convenience for observing and monitoring the number drawing process by the Lottery Supervisory Council and witnesses;

e) Select members to randomly choose sets of balls used for number drawing;

g) Appoint members to perform sealing and unsealing of equipment used for number drawing (ball cages, containers for sets of balls, electronic scales, ball inspection devices);

h) Supervise the shuffling of tickets prior to number drawing for instant result lottery types;

i) Supervise compliance with regulations regarding time, location, publication of rules for prize announcement, and procedures for organizing number drawing;

k) Supervise the activities of the number drawer when performing the number drawing task;

l) Sign minutes confirming the results of supervision and prize announcement results for the State Lottery Company to implement prize payments and publish in writing for lottery agents and participants to know.

2. Powers of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Randomly select balls for inspection of weight and size before number drawing (if necessary);

b) Require the State Lottery Company to redraw numbers if the number drawing does not follow the announced sequence of prize categories; during number drawing, if balls fall out of the cage or become stuck in the cage;

c) Temporarily suspend number drawing in the following cases:

- Equipment used for number drawing has been tampered with before the Lottery Supervisory Council begins work;

- Equipment does not meet requirements for creating impartial and truthful prize results;

- Prize announcement is not conducted at the announced time and location;

- There are signs of fraud during number drawing;

d) Request the directly responsible agency to discipline members of the Lottery Supervisory Council within their management authority or propose that the competent authority investigate and handle violations or fraudulent behavior in organizing number drawing in accordance with the law;

đ) Exercise other powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 11. Supervision of periodic inspection of number-spinning lottery equipment

1. Duties of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Supervise the trial operation inspection of the ball cage before it is put into use and after each maintenance period as prescribed, ensuring that the equipment used for number spinning meets the prescribed standards;

b) Supervise the periodic inspection of the balls used for organizing number-spinning lotteries.

2. Powers of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) Require the Lottery Enterprise to equip new, supplement, remove, and replace equipment that does not meet the required standards to serve the organization of number-spinning lotteries;

b) Exercise other powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 12. Supervision of the recovery, counting, and invalidation of unsold lottery tickets, stubs, or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets

1. Duties of the Lottery Supervisory Council

a) For traditional lottery products:

- Supervise the recovery and invalidation of unsold lottery tickets (including those not yet circulated) to ensure compliance with legal provisions on the recovery of traditional lottery tickets;

- Supervise the counting of tickets at the main office or designated locations for counting, reconcile and compile lists, package recovered tickets;

- Supervise the sealing of tickets, sign confirmation on the seal or stamp the seal before the scheduled time for the number-spinning draw as prescribed;

- Check and supervise the compilation of the quantity of unsold tickets recovered by the Lottery Enterprise, sign a summary record of the quantity of unsold tickets recovered, determine the number of tickets sold and revenue from ticket sales for each issuance period established by the Lottery Enterprise;

b) For manually drawn lottery products:

- Supervise the process of recovering, counting stubs or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets, compiling comprehensive lists of prizes from each lottery agent and the comprehensive list compiled by the Lottery Enterprise;

- Supervise the sealing of stubs or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets before the scheduled time for the number-spinning draw as prescribed, ensuring that no additional stubs or retained parts can be added, adjusted, or supplemented after recovery;

- Supervise the unsealing and extraction of stubs or retained parts of winning manually drawn lottery tickets according to the prize draw results for each category; supervise the re-sealing of stubs or retained parts of winning manually drawn lottery tickets before storage;

- Supervise the completion of the recovery and invalidation of unsold manually drawn lottery tickets (if required to be recovered);

- Supervise and check the compilation of the quantity of stubs or retained parts of winning manually drawn lottery tickets according to the prize draw results for each category (including winning numbers from the comprehensive list of predicted numbers or the list of predicted numbers from collection points outside the main office and lottery agents far from these points), sign a confirmation record of the number of tickets sold and revenue from ticket sales during the period, the number of winning manually drawn lottery tickets by type of prize, and the value of awards for each issuance period;

c) For instant result lottery tickets (scratch-off, peel-off):

- Supervise the completion of the recovery and counting of unsold lottery tickets returned by lottery agents and unsold tickets not yet circulated when they expire;

- Supervise the invalidation of recovered tickets in accordance with regulations;

- Supervise the sealing of all unsold instant result lottery tickets recovered before storage;

- Confirm the quantity of unsold tickets recovered for each issued lottery ticket symbol;

2. Powers of the Lottery Supervisory Council:

a) Not accept the results of the recovery and counting of stubs or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets, comprehensive lists of predicted numbers from each lottery agent in the following cases:

- Unsold lottery tickets; stubs or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets, lists of predicted numbers from lottery agents submitted for return beyond the prescribed time or submitted for recovery on a day other than the draw date, not complying with the prescribed submission procedures;

- Stubs or retained parts of manually drawn lottery tickets, lists of predicted numbers from lottery agents without predicted numbers;

- Lottery agents using the payment method of purchasing tickets immediately upon receipt (buying outright);

b) Request disciplinary action or propose relevant authorities to investigate and handle violations or fraudulent practices in the recovery and counting of unsold tickets;

c) Exercise other powers as stipulated in this Circular and the operational regulations of the Lottery Supervisory Council.

Article 13. Supervision of the recovery, counting, invalidation, and sealing of unsold lottery tickets, stubs, or retained parts of manually drawn lotto tickets recovered in certain areas.

Based on actual business conditions, when necessary, the Lottery Company shall propose to the Lottery Supervisory Board for approval:

2. Delegating to other provincial or centrally-administered municipal Lottery Companies the authority to recover, count, invalidate, and seal unsold lottery tickets before the draw time outside their province or city prior to transporting them back to headquarters for recounting, while ensuring the following principles:

a) The recovery, counting, invalidation, and sealing of unsold lottery tickets before the draw time must be carried out strictly according to the procedures specified in the lottery ticket recovery operational regulations of the Lottery Company and in accordance with laws governing lottery sales.

b) Clearly defining the responsibilities and powers of all parties involved during the process of recovering, counting, invalidating, and sealing unsold lottery tickets before the draw time.

Article 14. Work on preventing leftover bets and fake lottery tickets

Based on the implementation situation of work to prevent leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in localities, the Lottery Supervisory Board shall recommend to the Provincial People's Committee to instruct the Public Security agency and other competent agencies in the locality to strengthen measures to combat leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in the locality, including:

1. Applying measures to combat leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in the locality.

2. Reporting periodically every six months, at the end of the year, or at any time about the implementation of work to prevent leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in the locality to the Provincial People's Committee.

3. Other measures to effectively implement work to prevent leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in the locality.

Chapter IV
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ORGANIZATIONS

Article 15. Responsibilities of the Provincial People's Committee

2. Issuing operational regulations for the Lottery Supervisory Board.

3. Issuing decisions to change personnel of the Lottery Supervisory Board based on the proposal of the Department of Finance.

5. Directing the Public Security agency and other competent agencies in the locality to strengthen measures to combat leftover bets and fake lottery tickets in the locality based on the recommendations of the Lottery Supervisory Board.

Article 16. Responsibilities of the Department of Finance

1. Drafting and submitting to the provincial People's Committee for issuance legal documents serving as the basis for the operation of the Lottery Supervision Board, including:

a) Decision on establishment and change of members of the Lottery Supervision Board;

b) Decision on issuance of operational regulations of the Lottery Supervision Board;

2. Advising the provincial People's Committee in monitoring and inspecting compliance with the operational regulations issued by the provincial People's Committee and related provisions in the business activities of the Lottery Savings Company.

Article 17. Responsibilities of the Lottery Savings Company

3. Announcing the suspension of number drawing according to Clause 5, Article 3 of this Circular.

4. Adhering to legal provisions in lottery business operations and being subject to supervision by the Lottery Supervision Board during the organization of number drawing, recovery, counting, sealing of unsold tickets; stubs or retained parts, prize number lists of manual lottery tickets.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 18. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from May 15, 2021.

2. This Circular replaces Circular No. 76/2013/TT-BTC dated June 4, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the establishment, tasks, powers, and operational mechanisms of the Lottery Supervision Board.

3. Within three months from the date this Circular takes effect, the provincial People's Committee shall be responsible for reviewing and improving the composition of the Lottery Supervision Board in accordance with Article 3 of this Circular.

4. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, organizations and individuals shall promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.