The lottery in Kerala is run by the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries. The department which came into existence on September 1, 1967, released its first lottery ticket on November 1, the same year.
The price of a single ticket is Rs 40, while the entire book costs Rs 750. If the prize money is less than Rs 5,000, the winners can claim the money from any lottery shop in Kerala. If the amount won is above Rs 5,000, the winners will have to surrender their tickets before a bank or government lottery office with id proofs.
The department now rolls out seven weekly lotteries viz. Pratheeksha, Dhanasree, Win-Win, Akshaya, Bhagyanidhi, Karunya and Pournami lotteries and six bumper lotteries. The department, which started with a few personnel, now has around 465 employees under its Directorate located at Vikas Bhavan at Thiruvananthapuram, 14 District Offices and a Regional Deputy Directorate at Ernakulam.