Punjab Government Will Refund Money for Baisakhi Bumper Lottery

On Monday, the Punjab government announced that it will refund the tickets purchased for the cancelled Punjab State Baisakhi Bumper-2020 lottery. The draw for the bumper was scheduled for 17th April, but was cancelled on 11th April due to the widespread pandemic.

As per a report in Republic World, the state government has made an official statement that has notified people to get their refunds from sellers concerned, stockists and post offices.

Last week, allegations were made by the lottery dealers in the state of Punjab that they were stuck with Rs. 2 crore worth tickets as the government had refused to refund the tickets or exchange them for the tickets for the Rakhi Bumper. The concerns of the dealers were also taken up at a meeting between the Northern India Lottery Association and a few officials of the Punjab State Lotteries department. Northern India Lottery Association’s president H K Chugh asked, “if a person is facing harassment for getting a refund of ₹250, how can he/she expect that the prize would be provided to him with ease.”

Before the decision to announce the refund was made by the state, Punjab State Lotteries superintendent Harjeet Singh said that a few claims made by the lottery dealers regarding the sale of tickets were suspicious.

Now, ticket sales for the Rakhi Bumper-2020 are in progress, and the draw for the same is scheduled for August 20. The first prize winner of the bumper will win Rs 1.50 crore, and it will be declared out of the tickets sold.