The concession contract will end in August and the entity has decided to regain control of the sales points.
Costa Rica.- Starting next August 3, the Board of Social Protection (JPS) will assume direct administration of the kiosks selling their lottery games, as the extension of the contract "Development, Implementation and Operation of the Electronic Lottery Online and in Real Time", with the multinational company IGT-Boldt Gaming, signed on June 3, 2023 for a period of 14 months, comes to an end.
The information was confirmed by the president of the JPS, Esmeralda Britton, who also said that in this way the institution will have control of most of its products, following the development of its new website for the marketing of online lotteries.
“The Board is going to take over the sales points, we are in the process of acquiring some services by contracting and there will be others that will be totally managed by the JPS,” explained the head of the JPS.
Since June 3, 2013, IGT has managed the physical sales points of the lotteries, as well as the development, operation, and sale of the electronic lottery. Originally the contract was due to end in June 2019, however, it has received two extensions, the last two in 2021 and 2023.
As recorded in the minutes 61-2023, the decision to not continue with IGT was made three years ago, but problems around the bidding and bidders complicated hiring another company. This was due to multiple remarks from the General Comptroller of the Republic (CGR) related to bidding processes of the Centaur Project, which included both electronic lottery and online sales.
“It is not the same as contracting computers or pens or a series of goods and services that institutions acquire. The Board has to make normal contracts, but when we are talking about offering a service that no one else offers, in the industry, in the world, it moves differently and that limits us a lot,” expressed Britton.
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Due to the problems that have arisen from the bidding processes, the board of directors of the institution opted to continue with Centaur without the participation of the companies IGT and C-Móvil, the developer of the website, whose contract expired last May 17.
