Vietlott faces backlash from struggling rivals The Ministry of Finance has just asked the Vietnam Lottery Company to tighten their lottery sale activities after complaints from many traditional lottery companies in the southern region.    A Vietlott ticket selling point Nguyen Hoang Duong, deputy head of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions under the Finance Ministry, told the Vietnamnet Newspaper on November 14 that he had received complaints from the Southern Construction Lottery Council attacking Vietlott. "After receiving the complaints, we've asked Vietlott to work with the council to find a solution to their problems and tighten their sales activities," Duong said. Speaking with the media, Vietlott's deputy director, Nguyen Thanh Dam, said that they've contacted with authorities in several southern provinces to arrange a meeting with local lottery companies but hadn’t received feedback. "We've committed with authorities in 21 southern provinces to strictly follow the laws on our business," Dam confirmed. "Regrading some of our agents selling tickets at higher prices, we've worked with them to curb the situation and this will not happen again. We've also informed people to only buy tickets at our registered agents in six cities and provinces to avoid being cheated." Vietlott has attracting rising number of buyers to try their luck after three big winners were announced, leaving other lottery companies worried about their market share. During a meeting on October 22 about the lottery in the southern region, it was reported that they had seen positive growth in the first nine months. However, representatives of many lottery companies claimed that Vietlott had violated regulations and it could affect the stability of the southern market. Le Van Khanh, director of Soc Trang Province Lottery Company told the meeting that some agents in HCM City brought Vietlott tickets to sell at various provinces and cities that Vietlott hadn't opened any branches at yet. Vietlott announced a new winner of the jackpot worth VND71 billion (USD3.17 million) on November 13. The winner, who has 60 days to claim the prize, has not showed up yet but the company confirmed on November 14 that the winning ticket was sold on the morning of November 10 in HCM City's District 5. On October 16, a lucky person from Mekong Delta Tra Vinh Province won a jackpot of VND92 billion (USD4.14 million) from the company. On November 2, another player from Dong Nai Province won VND65 billion (USD2.86 million). Traditional lottery companies across southern Vietnam have decided to increase their top prizes by a third to compete with the new jackpot that has quickly gained popularity in the region. dtinews.vn