Pacific Online secures P4-B PCSO e-lotto deal

LISTED lottery firm Pacific Online Systems Corp. (Pacific Online) said Wednesday that it had been awarded a P4.088-billion contract to operate a web-based app for electronic lotto, or e-lotto, by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Pacific Online said it was informed by state-owned PCSO that its board of directors had approved the recommendation of a special bids and awards committee (SBAC) to award a five-year lease to the company.

Last month, Pacific Online was declared as the “single calculated bid” or solo bidder for the e-lotto deal by the SBAC. It then underwent a post-qualification review before the issuance of the notice of award.

E-lotto is a digitized version of traditional lottery games and is said to offer players the convenience, security and transparency of electronic betting.

Last year, Pacific Online signed a memorandum of agreement with the PCSO for a yearlong test run of the web-based app. The test run was cut short after PCSO started its bidding process for the e-lotto contract.

“With the issuance of the notice of award, the corporation will now be complying with the post-notice of award requirements of the PCSO; thereafter, the contract between the corporation and PCSO covering the terms and conditions of the project will be executed,” Pacific Online said.

The company’s shares climbed 2 centavos, or 0.46 percent, to P4.35 apiece on Wednesday.