The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) has introduced new 'Special Conditions' for phone-based society lotteries in order to encourage the use of phone-payment by increasing consumer confidence in using such a method.
Society lotteries are lotteries organised by charities or other non-profit organisations which allow them to raise money for good causes. Phone-based society lotteries are those where payments are charged to participant' phone bills.
The PSA is responsible for regulating content, goods and services charged to a phone bill. It has deemed the provision of these lotteries to be a "high risk" service but wishes to encourage new providers of these services within a framework that builds consumer confidence. As such, it has imposed a number of Special Conditions, including conditions relating to age limits on eligibility for using the service; promotional material and information requirements; separation of point of purchase and service interaction; clarity on obligations to pay; receipts for charges incurred; valid ticketing and the provision of ticketing information.
A breach of the Special Conditions will be a breach of the PSA's Code of Practice. The PSA may give a provider the opportunity to bring its service in line with the Code, or in more serious cases, it might open a full investigation. The PSA may issue a formal Warning Notice, or decide to impose sanctions.
These new conditions are set to come into force on 1 October 2018. However, the PSA expects new providers to meet these conditions if they start operating phone-paid society lotteries before this date.
For more information on this topic, please contact Sonal Patel Oliva or your usual contact within Fieldfisher's Brand Development Team.
Co-authored by Alex Harbin.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.