News writer
After a system breakdown affecting both instant tickets and draw games during the spring and summer of 2023, the Connecticut Lottery Corporation and its chief vendor have come to a settlement agreement, according to the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP).
First computer failure
On May 21, 2023, a computer failure took place which resulted in winning payouts for losing tickets. At the same time, the computers were rejecting winning tickets.
After discovering the errors, the lottery delayed notifying the DCP, which violates the state law.
The settlement resulted in a $16,000 fine and a promise to better train the quasi-public agency's 150 licensed employees.
As part of the settlement agreement, the lottery admitted that the software glitch did not correctly identify draw game tickets in the central gaming system, which happens to be run by Reno, Nevada-based International Gaming Technology (IGT).
IGT has been plagued by delays since they won the contract to run online gaming in 2021, officials said.
While draw games could include Powerball, Keno, Lucky for Life, and Mega Millions, the settlement did not specify which particular draw games were affected by the failure.
Second computer failure
After that first breakdown in the spring of 2023, another breakdown took place between July 29 and August 1, 2023. This error happened when ticket agents were manually inserting winning instant tickets, but were rejected by a software malfunction.
When all was said and done, there were 565 lottery ticket winners and one scratch-off ticket winner totaling $2,976 that were deprived of their winnings, according to the agreement.
After the DCP report first came out, the CLC blamed “unforeseen challenges” when IGT converted the old gambling system.
Lack of communication
During that first failure, the agreement states IGT didn't let the lottery know right away there was an error. Then, the lottery did not let the DCP know about the problems for 13 days.
In addition, the lottery also failed to notify agents in gas stations, supermarkets, and a variety of stores in the state about how they could proceed until the system breakdown was fixed.
The agreement states between June 9 and June 15, 2023, lottery officials “actively worked to identify and resolve the issue.” However, they did not let anyone at the DCP know about these issues until June 13, almost two weeks after IGT initially discovered the problem.
The settlement
With the settlement agreement in place, authorities said the document shouldn't be considered either an admission of liability or a violation of the law.
Now, the $2,976 in lost winnings and a “settlement fee” of $13,000 — $1,000 a day for each of the reporting delay days — will be contributed to problem gambling programs.
The state lottery also agreed they would hold two hour-long training sessions for licensed employees in the company. These training sessions will be held within 45 days. They would also create a new manual of policies and procedures, which would then be distributed to employees and lottery agents throughout the state.
Brett Steen, senior director of marketing for the Connecticut Lottery, said:
CLC devotes significant resources to upholding the highest standards of game integrity and player safety while continuously enhancing the player experience. Since its launch, the new gaming system has successfully processed more than 505 million transactions and paid out more than $1 billion in prizes. CLC looks forward to its continued partnership with DCP as we work jointly to ensure continued player safety and satisfaction.
Enjoy playing the Connecticut Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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