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  • 1 year ago
The Online Gaming Agents Association of Trinidad and Tobago is threatening to have all agents shut down business for a week, if NLCB refuses to meet with them on a number of critical issues.

On Sunday morning the association met to discuss new measures which National Lotteries Control Board plans to roll out in December.

They are calling the proposed measures harsh and draconian and warned that they will only lead to more and more agents permanently closing booths.

Reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh tells us more.
Transcript
00:00Playaway and Lotto Booth agents are threatening to shut down their booths if NLCB fails to
00:06meet with them and reconsider a number of policy changes it plans to implement come
00:12December 1st, 2024.
00:15At a meeting in Coover on Sunday morning, members of the Online Gaming Agents Association
00:21of Trinidad and Tobago also decided on collectively taking legal action against NLCB for issues
00:29they believe are unfair and have long been penalized for.
00:33President of the association Dean Possard says they have serious concerns with the latest
00:38changes which include a discontinuation of proof of payment.
00:44Agents are required to remit weekly collections from machines at night safes instead of bank
00:49tellers.
00:50They don't want you to prove to them that you deposited money.
00:55So now they're telling you you deposited money and they're not giving you the opportunity
01:00to prove that you deposited money.
01:02So I don't understand that at all.
01:04Non-payment considered last year.
01:06So they're playing police now, right?
01:09And the non-payment, as I say, is what I'm telling you.
01:11Their non-payment is that they may receive the money yet, you know.
01:14Not that you have paid the money, you know, that they received the money on time.
01:18He says in addition to agents facing low sales, battling against illegal machines and their
01:24own bills, they're now being saddled with excessive fees.
01:28They're targeting us now as a source of revenue, as far as I'm concerned.
01:33Because if you raise weekly settlement fee from $15 to $100, you're targeting me to get
01:37some extra money.
01:39If you increase reactivation fee from $100 to $500 to $1,000, you're targeting me.
01:44If I get suppressed and I take out a bond for $25,000, you're targeting me again.
01:49The agents say they are ready to hire an attorney to fight this battle for them.
01:54And in the interim, in order to get NLCB to listen to their concerns, they are threatening
02:00a week-long shutdown.
02:01Let me say each agent here deposit $20,000, minimum $20,000 a week.
02:10How many agents we have in the country?
02:111,500?
02:12Let me say $1,000 now, man.
02:13I have 1,000 agents.
02:14Check how much money we lost.
02:17Right?
02:19Not we, but NLCB.
02:21See what's going on.
02:23We need to take people by the horn.
02:25We're giving them a week.
02:26We're giving them a week.
02:28Cindy Raghuban Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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