The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has given illegal lotto operators in the country up to 31 December 2017 to formalise their operations or face sanctions.

According to the Director-General of NLA, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, writers, agents and operators who have formally registered their operations at NLA will be given identification cards to distinguish them from those who have not registered.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s forum organised by the NLA in Accra, Mr Ameyaw said after the grace period, recalcitrant operators who have not formalised their activities with the NLA will be made to face the law.

“There have been series of meetings, first with the stakeholders, second with operators, and third with the writers and agents, so there is a distinction and you ought to appreciate that distinction,” he stated.

He added: “At least we have until the 31 of December to regularise the whole system and then start the whole regime by the 1 January 2018. The validity of the identification cards will be one year so it will be renewed annually depending on the background checks and the due diligence that we undertake. So if you are issued a license and by the following year you have not behaved within the terms and conditions of the issuance of that license, then the license can be revoked.”