Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) has been charged with a £490,000 fine for sending out marketing material to customers who had signed up to GamStop to be self-excluded. GameStop’s free self-exclusion tool allows players who have recognised that they are experiencing problem gambling habits to take active steps to remove themselves from compromising situations and gain the support they need.
The bookmaker notified Great Britain’s Gambling Commission of the glitch, which resulted in a push notification promoting enhanced odds for English Premier League football match bets being sent out on November 21, 2021. The company cited human error as the cause of the breach of social responsibility rules.
The use of push notifications is nothing new: operators promote anything from UK 100 free spins no deposit bonuses to free bets for sports wagers. However, targeting self-excluded customers certainly warrants some form of penalty, even if it was done so unintentionally.
Investigation
The Commission found that Paddy Power Betfair failed to adhere to the Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP), specifically paragraphs 2 and 3. These sections state that all licensees must take precautions to prevent any marketing material from being sent out to self-excluded customers. Additionally, all licensees must remove all personal information about the players from their marketing databases within two days of receiving a self-exclusion notification.
Ian Brown, the CEO of Flutter UK, Paddy Power’s parent company, revealed that the push notification mishap was an unfortunate mistake. Brown said that as soon as the incident was discovered by their team, appropriate action was taken, and the Gambling Commission was notified. Brown doubled down on the company’s commitment to making gambling safer, stating that neither the Commission nor Paddy Power received direct complaints regarding the mishap.
It is important to note that the imposed restrictions prevented self-excluded customers from being able to follow through with bets or cash deposits. However, the number of self-excluded customers who were exposed to the marketing message remains unclear.
Ruling
The bookmaker’s breach of SRCP 3.5.3 was classified as a violation of Section 82(1) of the Gambling Act 2005, resulting in a financial penalty. Although Kay Roberts, the Commission’s executive director of operations, confirmed that there was no evidence to suggest that the marketing was intentional or that self-excluded customers saw the notifications, they take these breaches very seriously.
The Commission also acknowledged that PPB took immediate remedial action following the incident and was fully cooperative during the on-going investigation. Despite initially attempting to appeal the Commission’s decision, PPB agreed to pay the fine of £490,000. The company also supported their decision to employ an unbiased third party to conduct an internal audit of all its marketing communications processes to ensure this error will not occur again, at their own expense.
Flutter, Paddy Powers’ parent company has championed safer gambling measures for a number of years introducing mandatory deposit limits for users under-25s and a £10 stake limit for all online slots, across its UK and Ireland brands. While this ruling did reveal that their system may require some updating, it also serves as a warning to other operators to ensure their systems are equipped to effectively prevent self-excluded customers from being subjected to unwanted promotional material.
Additional Cases
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident for the Commission, as PPB just represents the latest in a string of other operators that faced penalties for violating the social responsibility act. William Hill recently received a record £19.2 million fine for numerous infractions, such as customers losing tens of thousands of pounds just after opening their accounts.
Additionally, SkillOnNet was ordered to pay £305,150 due to a series of anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings. A Commission-led regulator review of the operator, which runs 50 websites in Britain, uncovered numerous instances whereby they failed to uphold the License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). SkillOnNet’s payment will be directed to socially responsible causes. The number of cases is alarming considering the growing rate of problem gambling in the UK, where 0.5% of the adult population suffers from gambling addiction.
