The Department of Internal Affairs has signed a $35 million, six-year contract with Greek gambling technology company Intralot for the provision and operation of an electronic monitoring system for all gaming machines in pubs and clubs.
Intralot had earlier been named preferred vendor following an international procurement programme. The company operates in 28 countries and has annual turnover of around NZ$600 million.
Intralot will provide controllers for all gambling sites. They will transmit the relevant information to a host site at EDS, which is a sub-contractor to Intralot.
DIA says electronic monitoring will greatly increase the accountability of the gambling sector. More than $8.6 billion was spent in pokie machines last year, generating a profit of $1.035 billion. Currently, records are kept manually.
A pilot of the new system will be undertaken late this year or early next year, with the subsequent rollout to be completed by March 2007.