The Victorian government has seen a great deal of turmoil this year. Last month, Tatts Group and TabCorp sued the state government for overcharging them on the Health Benefit Levy and now it has been targeted by Intralot. This week, Intralot filed a writ with the Supreme Court. The lottery operator claimed that its competitor, Tatts Group, was given an unfair advantage when they were in negotiations with the state over lottery licenses.
Tatts Group has been in Victoria’s lottery market for quite some time. In 2007, Intralot entered the market by selling scratch cards. Both parties signed a clause that prohibited each operator from making ‘exclusive arrangements’ to distribute lottery products. This meant that neither group would be able to exclusively offer lottery games or advertise in particular venues.
The clause was fair for both groups, but the Victorian government granted Tatts Group a public lottery license which allowed prohibited ‘dedicated’ retailers from selling products from competing lottery operators. As such, there were some venues that were exclusively selling Tatts Group products but Intralot was not granted any exclusivity.
A complaint was filed in January 2010 with the Independent Review Panel, but it seems that nothing came of it. Now, Intralot is seeking out assistance from the Supreme Court. The lottery provider is suing for any profits that it missed out on due to Tatts exclusivity, plus interest. As it stands, the lottery operator has yet to serve the government with the writ. The documents have only been filed in order to meet a legal deadline.
Since the case is now with the Supreme Court, the Victorian government is unable to comment on the situation.
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