Everything you need to know about organising a lottery
According to Polish law, there are four types of lotteries: promotional, audiotex, raffle and cash lotteries. The organization of the last one is subject to the state monopoly. The rules for organising lotteries in Poland are governed by the Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 and its secondary legislation. Below is a compendium of knowledge about organising lotteries.
What are the rules for organising lotteries in Poland?
The rules for organising lotteries in Poland are governed by the Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 (Dz. U. of 2019 item 847) – hereinafter referred to as the “Act”. Pursuant to the Act, promotional, audiotex and raffle lotteries can be organised. The organisation of the fourth type, i.e. cash lotteries, is subject to the state monopoly.
What are lotteries?
Promotional, audiotex and raffle lotteries, as well as other types of events listed in Art. 2 of the Act, i.e. number games, cash lotteries, telebingo game, cylinder games, dice games, cash bingo, raffle bingo, jointly constitute the category of games of chance. These are games for cash or in-kind prizes, the outcome of which is determined mainly by chance. Such games, together with parimutuel betting, card games and slot machine games, constitute the group of gambling games.
What are promotional lotteries?
Promotional lotteries are games of chance that can be participated by people over the age of thirteen by purchasing the promoted product or service. Participation in a lottery is also possible by purchasing (not necessarily for a fee) another proof of participation in the game, such as a ticket to a conference during which the organisers draw prizes among the participants who have put a business card into a box. From the participant’s perspective, the purpose of participating in the lottery is to win an in-kind or cash prize. From the organizer’s perspective, the goal is to increase the sales of promoted products and services.
Order the organisation of a promotional lottery: https://i360.com.pl/en/lotteries/
Fig.: One of the promotional lotteries currently organised by i360
What are audiotex lotteries?
Audiotex lotteries are games of chance that can be participated by people over eighteen years of age by sending a text message from a mobile phone or through a paid phone call. From the participant’s perspective, the purpose of participating in the lottery is to win an in-kind or cash prize. From the organiser’s perspective, the goal is to increase the sales of promoted products and services when the lottery is organised to activate the demand for consumer goods, or to directly profit from generating mass SMS traffic or paid phone calls.
What are raffle lotteries?
Raffle lotteries are games of chance participated by purchasing a lottery ticket or other proof of participation in the game, and the entity organising the lottery offers in-kind prizes only. As a rule, pursuant to the Act, the income from raffles is entirely allocated for socially useful purposes, in particular, charitable purposes.
Who are lotteries addressed to?
Promotional and raffle lotteries can be participated by natural people over 13 years of age. This results directly from Art. 27(2) of the Act: “only people over 18 years of age may participate in gambling games, except for raffle lotteries and promotional lotteries.” The age limit comes from the Civil Code and applies to limited legal capacity acquired when reaching that age. Participation in audiotex lotteries is reserved for adults.
Want to know more?
Read my proprietary texts presenting the compendium of knowledge that will allow you to organise a lottery in accordance with the law. You can find them at these links:
General information:
WWW: Lottery organisation website
For the advanced:
Blog: IGH1, IGH 1A
Blog: GDPR, AML, UOGH – how to find your way in the jungle of regulations?
Fiction about lotteries:
Blog: How has COVID changed promotional campaigns?