The Bank of Punjab has not held the sale of Punjab Development Fund 'Crorepati' scheme tickets after September last year. The people are anxiously waiting for resumption of the sale of Rs 25 tickets but there is no word in newspapers either about continuation or abandoning of the scheme.
The Punjab Government had launched the scheme, under Punjab Development Fund (PDF), through Bank of Punjab (BOP) on August 16, 2004. The last draw under the scheme was held in September 2005. Since then, the BOP is silent about the scheme.The scheme was initiated to raise money for development activity in the province. It raised over Rs 1 billion before the first draw was held. Thus the Punjab government earned a profit of Rs 80 million from the PDF 'Crorepati' scheme in 2004.
However, many people had reservations about the scheme due to the risk of fraud despite government's backing. Prospective subscribers have been busy inquiring about the official or legal status of the fund from the government and the BoP. Subsequently, the State Bank of Pakistan clarified that the 'Crorepati' scheme was not a lottery scheme of the BoP for mobilising deposits but was actually launched for the Punjab Development Fund. The Punjab government had appointed only BoP as the banker and collecting agent for this scheme.
Ironically, as a media report suggests, a majority of the winners of the last draw are anxiously awaiting payments against their claims filed with the respective bank branches. The winners were hoping to receive the prize money within a fortnight after the draw but so far they have not heard a word.
"Last year, I purchased PDF Crorepati scheme coupons. Later, I found I had got a prize. I claimed for it. I was assured payment within a fortnight. Nothing matured to date at the BoP who sold the coupon except the apologies. Frequent visits revealed that the scheme was entrusted to an advertising agency in Lahore.
They had a new story to explain the delay. The purchasers of coupons had a sizable component of '10 numbers' who tampered the printed serial numbers and claimed the prize. So each claim coupon had to be sent to the printer for ascertaining the genuineness of the number.
It naturally takes time. Another grey area was the non-compilation of list of unsold coupons when the draw was held. Twenty percent from each prize was retained as tax and balance was the prize. What a shame that despite association of private sector agencies like a bank and an advertising agency the actual performance was so disappointing," said Hilal Ahmad, a resident of Satellite Town, Rawalpindi.
Mohammad Mairaj, a goldsmith in Sarafa Bazar, Rawalpindi said that PDF Crorepati scheme was a fraud; rather it was an organised cheating. The scheme was managed through an advertising agency reportedly owned by the son of one from the ruling junta who minted money through advertising bill, he claimed.
"Believe it or not, the scheme was conceived with tickets bearing numbers up to 12 digits or 999 billion tickets, but according to the results the last lucky ticket to win a prize bears the number 000,004,658,033, indicating that tickets bearing higher numbers were not included in the draw. It is worth mentioning that ticket numbers starting from any digit from 1 to 9 never won any prize which shows those were fake and sold to mint money. Only tickets bearing numbers 000,-- had been included in the draw. Possibly 999,995,341,966, tickets were left out to make the theft easy. The bureaucrats appear to have been used as a tool. If some body believes that this plunder will never be unearthed, he was mistaken. All land scam cases and swindling through PDF Crorepati scheme will be exposed some day," hopes Mairaj.
Another media report suggests that one Sajjad Ahmad Bhatti, a resident of Larkana, had moved Sindh High Court last year pleading that he was sold tickets with identical numbers by International Brands Limited, Larkana. In any case, the lottery was un-Islamic and unconstitutional and should be banned under the law declared by the superior courts, the petitioner pleaded. According to the petitioner, the Supreme Court Shariat Appellate Bench outlawed all lotteries in 1992 except those in which, the initial investment remains intact.
Such defrauding tactics by the PDF managers failed to attract the masses. They ultimately approached the Punjab government with a request to defer the scheme as the "media campaign was not emphatic enough to attract attention of masses." They were of the view that media campaign was being run without proper co-ordination of the fund managers. They said that the government was ready to review its target downward from two billion to one billion rupees. BoP may make it happen through its own resources by compulsory selling of tickets to its dedicated customers, without any heavily onslaught.
After this advice, the managers reportedly entered into agreements with a local departmental store and a pharmacy chain for sale of the PDF tickets but lack of enthusiasm marred this revenue collection drive. Irrespective of the factual position, there is a strong need to check and control advertisements in the print and electronic media. Ordinary citizens accept the advertisements as gospel truth and become susceptible to fraud and deceit. Here lies the intrinsic problem of the indifference of our bureaucracy to the rights and interests of the people. The primary duty of the bureaucracy seems to be the protection of the interests of the party in power rather than the interest of the people. Everyday our print and electronic media is full of attractive advertisements promoting the sale of various consumer products or services, making tall claims. To further lure consumers, they offer tempting prizes and opportunities to win millions through lotteries.
There is no dearth of laws in Pakistan that grant some rights, protection and remedies to the consumers-but only on paper. Hardly any such law is being followed, respected or enforced by any authority. It is high time the laws are either enforced in letter and spirit or are repealed if the state is unable to ensure compliance. In fact it would not be an exaggeration to state that in the ultimate analysis, for all practical purposes, it seems in Pakistan laws are only meant for those who volunteer to abide by them.
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