Receipt lottery: ‘pay and win instantly’ is here – instant prizes are now available

The ‘pay and win straight away’ scheme is finally set to be introduced. The 2027 Budget Bill paves the way for winners to find out their winnings straight away in the receipt lottery. The possibility had been in limbo for over four years, having been provided for in a 2022 decree. But the draft Budget Bill has finally found a way to make it operational: the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), which manages the receipt lottery, will be authorised to open one or more bank or postal accounts to manage the payment of lottery prizes, thereby enabling them to be awarded instantly. For amounts under €5,000 (i.e. the threshold for cash payments), payment may be made simply by presenting the winning receipt, without the winner being required to provide identification.

The move is therefore aimed at giving new impetus to the receipt lottery, which is, in any case, continuing to award weekly and monthly prizes, as well as the annual grand prize, to both consumers and retailers. Naturally, the rules of the game remain as they were when it was launched: participants must register on the lottery website to obtain the code required to enter the draw, and payment must be made using electronic money (cards or apps).

Alongside winnings linked to prize draws, plans had been made in 2022 to introduce the possibility of instant wins, partly in response to the recommendations set out by the Court of Auditors in its 2021 public finance coordination report, in which it emphasised, amongst other things, that ‘only being informed of a win at a later date constitutes a further deterrent to participation, dampening the consumer’s interest in the scheme’. However, although this possibility was provided for in the regulations, it remained merely on paper. Why? The stumbling block lay in the difficulty of paying out winnings immediately.

As the explanatory report explains, ‘the use of special accounts alone is not entirely suited to the specific requirements of an instant bonus allocation system, which necessitates the availability of the resources required for payment via appropriate instruments that enable prompt disbursement’. Hence the measure introducing ‘the legislative authorisation required to open one or more accounts for this purpose’.

The other area of intervention concerns the simplified procedure for collecting prizes below the cash payment threshold (5,000 euros). In such cases, the prize may be paid out simply upon presentation of the winning ticket, without the need to verify the winner’s identity. The measure – as the explanatory report further explains – is aimed at ‘facilitating the immediate payment of small prizes, whilst ensuring compliance with current regulations regarding restrictions on the use of cash’.