Southern lottery agent owes more than 7,600 billion VND
The Ministry of Finance has just summarized the implementation of Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC detailing the guidance on lottery business activities. One of the notable issues pointed out by this agency is the debt term of lottery agents.
According to current regulations, the debt term of agents for construction lottery companies for traditional lottery and lotto lottery is no more than 21 days, equivalent to 3 weeks, from the date the lottery ticket is issued.
Through review, the Ministry of Finance said that in 2025, the debt of lottery agents in the Southern region reached 7.628 billion VND.
The Ministry of Finance assesses that the total debt of lottery agents is very large, increasing financial risks for lottery companies - enterprises with 100% state-owned capital.
Meanwhile, in Official Dispatch No. 689/KTNN-PC dated May 20, 2026, the State Audit Office proposed to review and consider amending regulations on the debt term of lottery agents. Accordingly, the maximum debt term for traditional lottery and lottery is proposed to be reduced from 21 days to 7 days, from the date the ticket is issued.
The Ministry of Finance believes that Vietnam's electronic payment market has made strong development steps, and non-cash transactions continue to grow. Therefore, reducing the debt term of agents needs to be considered to ensure financial safety for lottery businesses, and at the same time be consistent with the development of non-cash payment methods.
Lottery revenue of over 1.37 million billion VND in 13 years
The report of the Ministry of Finance also shows the significant scale of the lottery market. In the period 2013–2025, total revenue of the whole market reached 1,377,754 billion VND, an average growth of 10.2%/year. On average, lottery revenue reached nearly 106,000 billion VND per year.
In the same period, state budget contributions reached 439,070 billion VND, an average growth of 13.26%/year, equivalent to an average of about 33,775 billion VND per year.
Revenue and budget contributions are mainly concentrated in the Southern region. The Ministry of Finance also noted that the gap between regions and between types of lottery products tends to increase.
Currently, there are 63 lottery companies operating in localities nationwide, established and owned by the People's Committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government; and 1 Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company Limited (Vietlott) owned by the Ministry of Finance.
The market currently has traditional lottery products, manual self-selected lottery, results-knowing lottery and computerized self-selected lottery.
In addition, Vietlott's partner, Berjaya, has fulfilled its responsibility to support the Vietnamese Government with 50 million USD in the period 2016–2025, equivalent to 5 million USD per year for 10 years.
About 500,000 people participate in the lottery ticket sales system
According to the Ministry of Finance, lottery business activities contribute to creating jobs for about 500,000 people who are policy beneficiaries and the poor through the lottery ticket agent system. Revenue from lottery is a source of local budget revenue, used for health, education, social security and welfare goals.
However, the current dealer system has a large difference between the three regions.
In the North, level I agents have not developed strongly, while the network of level 2 agents and retail agents, although large in number, lacks competitiveness due to dependence on a ticket supply company.
In the Central region, the agent system has many levels but the number of tickets is small, leading to a local situation where agents only sell tickets of one lottery company.
Meanwhile, the Southern region has a wide network of agents, including general agents, agents and finally street vendors.
The Ministry of Finance believes that the regulation on bidding to select agents based on low commission costs may directly affect retailers, including vulnerable people, reducing income and affecting ticket sales motivation.
Another issue raised is ticket printing activities in the North. Currently, 28 Northern lottery companies issue tickets under the regional linkage mechanism. According to the Ministry of Finance, the process of collecting opinions from businesses and organizing public bidding to select ticket printing facilities is often lengthy, time-consuming and resource-consuming.
From the above obstacles, the Ministry of Finance proposes to amend and supplement Circular No. 75/2013/TT-BTC, which aims to increase the initiative for businesses in selecting agents, selecting ticket printing facilities, and at the same time adjust regulations related to debt terms and reduce the composition of administrative procedure dossiers.
