ROME - A new national lottery scheme was started on Monday in which receipts from card purchases are used as virtual lottery tickets. 

  Purchases made with cash are not eligible for the scheme, and there are a few purchases that even if made with a card are not eligible, including tickets for the theatre, cinema or museums, petrol, parking or anything bought in a pharmacy. Online purchases and purchases for one’s business or job are not eligible either.

  The much delayed scheme, organised by the Customs and Monopoly Agency in collaboration with the ‘Italia Cashless’ programme, was devised to incentivise cashless payments.

  Anyone over the age of 18 can register for a lottery code from the ‘Lotteria degli Scontrini’ website, and for every cashless purchase of one euro or more, the cashier, if given a participant’s lottery code, can register the virtual lottery ticket. A participant can obtain up to 1,000 virtual lottery tickets for the monthly draw, with a weekly draw to be introduced from June.

  Prizes for both the shoppers and shop owners will be announced from March 11, with winnings of up to 100,000 euros, earned during the previous month’s shopping. 

  The organisers of the lottery have guaranteed that the scheme will not track one’s spending habits and records no personal information.

ol