Lotto agents have been told not to participate in the new CourtPay payment scheme launched by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) and the Judiciary on Monday.
The call was issued by President of the Online Gaming Agents Association of Trinidad and Tobago (OGAATT) Dean Persad.
Persad, in a Newsday report, said members of OGAATT are no longer agents of NLCB alone, as they also take payments from customers of bmobile, Digicel, Flow, Direct TV and the Water and Sewerage Authority, among others.
Now, he said, they are agents for the Judiciary, but for a meagre fee of $1 and for some transactions 50 cents.
Agents will receive a commission of $1 for every CourtPay transaction for every public health or traffic violation voucher sold and 50 cents for every maintenance voucher.
Persad said: “For NLCB, the Judiciary, or anyone for that matter to ask agents to put themselves into further risks for $1 in some cases and 50 cents in other cases, is inconceivable, unthinkable and downright callous.”
He said the latest CourtPay system was imposed without consultation by the association and its agents and without proper notice of how the system works by the NLCB.
He pointed out, “This association wants the public to know that after payment at the Lotto booths, they now have to go online to complete the payment process. If there is a problem at that point, who would they go to and clarify or retrieve their money?”
“Now they come to burden agents with additional work and risks without a proper and decent compensation. Since when are agents responsible for collecting over $27 million for the Judiciary?” asked Persad.
Persad is calling on the NLCB to address OGAATT’s call to increase members’ commission by 12 per cent, remove the $100 weekly fee, $500 reactivation fee, a fee of at least $5 per Via transaction and to tend to banking issues.