Official castigates Chinatrust over `trivial' lotto rules

The Ministry of Finance yesterday called on Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), which has won the exclusive right to issue public lotteries starting next year, to adjust some of the "trivial" and "unreasonable regulations" contained in its proposed contract with ticket-selling agencies.

The ministry is scheduled to meet with Chinatrust Commercial officials and lotto agency rep-resentatives tomorrow to resolve the dispute that has been brewing for months, Deputy Minister of Finance Liu Teng-cheng (劉燈城) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

Unreasonable demand

"Ticket-issuing banks must not issue unreasonable or excessively demanding requests, as this type of business is meant to serve public welfare, not commercial ends," Liu said in an unusually harsh tone.

He stressed that the ministry has yet to finalize the contract and would do its best to safeguard the 5,000 agencies' rights and interests.

His comments came after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) lashed out at Chinatrust Com-mercial's regulations on Monday, claiming that the bank was preying on disadvantaged minorities and increasing their financial burden.

Protest

More than 30 agencies staged a protest in front of Chinatrust Commercial's West Tainan branch on Monday.

The group railed against the bank's requirement that applicants must have a capital of at least NT$500,000 (US$15,260) to open a lotto shop and that the ticket-issuing stores must sport a common look, including cupboards, billboards and lotto identification designed by the bank.

Liu said the minimum capital should only be NT$100,000, as requested by the current issuing bank, Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行).

Chinatrust Commercial also requires that store signboards be lighted around the clock with the agencies paying for the electricity bills themselves.

Moreover, it has set up a stringent list of items for inspection, ranging from the sellers' attire to their manner, attitude at work and store decoration.

Agencies that have 100 points deducted within three months will have their licenses revoked.

Liu said that the ministry would intervene to negotiate as some regulations were "trivial and unnecessary."

For instance, the bank prohibits sellers from wearing flip- flops, incurring the wrath of some agencies.

As Huang Hsian-tang (黃顯堂), a polio victim, said, physically challenged individuals may have difficulty putting on shoes.

Liu added that the ministry would ask Chinatrust Commercial to offer a six-month grace period next year when reviewing agencies' compliance with its high monthly revenue threshold of NT$500,000, compared with the current NT$300,000, before meting out punishments.

"As the agencies are the ticket-issuing body's partners, the bank should use encouraging measures to create a win-win situation," Liu added.

Defiant

Despite the controversy, Chinatrust Commercial stuck to its guns yesterday, saying that the regulations were mapped out based on a survey it conducted to boost the lotto shops' image and jack up sales, according to its press release.

The survey, conducted between July 18 and July 22, showed that 84 percent of the agencies supported the idea of creating a common look, especially in regard to the shop exterior, to stimulate sales.

The bank said that lotto sellers who sign up on or before Sept. 15 are eligible for a subsidy of NT$5,000.