The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Monday, October 23, has filed administrative charges against four companies that are running unauthorized online lotteries.

According to Val Gonzales' report in DZRH Rapido Hataw Balita, PCSO General Manager Melquiades A. Robles took legal action at the Mandaluyong Prosecutors Office.

The move was made after PCSO found out in 2022 that some companies were conducting online lotteries or e-lotteries that they were not authorized to do.

The companies were identified as Eplayment Corporation, Paymero Technologies Limited, GlobalComRCI International, and BlockchainSmart-TEch Co. I.T. Consultancy.

Robles said aside from using PCSO's name, logo, and draw, the aforementioned companies are conducting lottery bets without tickets, which could be a big problem for the PCSO and bettors.

Around 4.7 billion pesos were collected by the four unauthorized companies in just a year without payment of tax, Robles said.

The four companies will be facing charges such as Article 277 of the Revice Penal Code, Presdintial Decree No. 9602, and Republic Act 9287.

According to NBI, the areas that have e-lottos that are carried out by the said companies are Quezon City, Cebu, and several areas in the country.

PCSO said it is still gathering evidence against such unauthorized companies.