UK Gambling Commission Levies $600,000 Fine on Paddy Power and Betfair

Strongly pursuing its mission, the UK Gambling Commission is holding accountable operators who violate the country’s gambling regulations. Flutter Entertainment's prominent brands are the latest to face consequences for social responsibility oversights.

The regulator penalized online casinos Paddy Power and Betfair face a £490,000 ($604,000) penalty for dispatching push notifications with promotional content to customers who had opted for self-exclusion. Specifically, Paddy Power was found sending better odds alerts to devices tied to accounts registered with the Gamstop self-exclusion service or those who had self-excluded from the operator. The Gambling Commission pointed out that these violations took place during a 2021 EPL match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United.

The Commission stated such conduct breaches the nation’s gambling laws, which require gambling entities to ensure that marketing materials do not reach individuals enrolled in self-exclusion schemes. Additionally, British gaming licenses mandate that companies expunge all Gamstop-listed individuals from their marketing databases within a 48-hour timeframe.

In reaction to the penalty, the Gambling Commission's executive director of operations, Kay Roberts, emphasized: “There’s no evidence that the marketing was deliberate, nor that everyone with the apps viewed the message or that self-excluded individuals gambled. Nevertheless, we consider such violations seriously.

Roberts also suggested that all operators glean lessons from Betfair and Paddy Power's shortcomings, reinforcing their systems to assure self-excluded clientele are never targeted with promotional content.

Reflecting on the incident, Ian Brown, Flutter’s CEO for the UK and Ireland, stated: “Our goal at Flutter is to spearhead the safer gambling initiative, and we express regret for this error. The alert went out inadvertently, and once our team identified the issue, we took prompt measures to correct it and notified the Gambling Commission proactively.”

Flutter’s CEO reiterated that no grievances were lodged with the UKGC or Paddy Power concerning the alerts. He reinforced Flutter’s pledge to uphold high responsibility standards in their operations and to maintain a collaborative rapport with the regulatory body.

Flutter's Paddy Power and Betfair are the most recent to incur fines from the UKGC due to lapses in social responsibility. Recently, William Hill also faced a hefty £19.2 million fine, attributed to 'pervasive and concerning' errors that led to consumers losing substantial sums almost immediately upon registration.

The fines coincided with the Government's release of the much-anticipated White Paper on gambling reforms aimed at ensuring safer online gambling. Proposed measures include stricter affordability checks and wagering limits. However, these remain open to further discussion. online slot machine Rising Concern: Problem Gambling in the UK