Betfred will pay a £240,000 penalty after the Gambling Commission (GC) ruled that some of the features on the operator’s online slots games “breached industry standards”.
Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, the licensees which runs Betfred and OddsKing, was handed the fine after several games failed to meet some of the Remote Technical Standards (RTS).
The GC said failings included offering games which failed to display customers’ net position and games which celebrated losses as wins.
Under the RTS’ responsible product design, guidelines state that all products must be “designed responsibly and […] minimise the likelihood that they exploit or encourage problem gambling behaviour”.
These include not offering turbo, quick spin and slam stop mechanics, as well as time limits between spins.
In the case of celebrating losses as wins, the RTS stipulates the “use of auditory or visual effects that are associated with a win are not permitted for returns which are less than or equal to last total amount staked”.
In the Betfred investigation, the GC noted its concerns around the “fairness of celebratory effects” when customers were in overall losing positions.
The regulator said these celebratory effects could have impacted players’ ability to make informed decisions.
The regulator nevertheless acknowledged that Betfred took immediate action to rectify the issue and “promptly decommissioned” all the affected titles.
The six-figure penalty marks the second time Betfred has faced regulatory action from the GC.
The Warrington-based bookmaker was fined £2.87m in 2022 for social responsibility and AML failings.
John Pierce, GC director of enforcement, said: “Features that impair a consumer’s ability to make informed decisions are not appropriate and pose a clear risk.
“While we acknowledge the operator acted swiftly to remove the affected games, this enforcement action should serve as a clear signal to the wider industry to review and strengthen their compliance practices – and to ensure that gameplay is fair and consumers are not exposed to unnecessary risk.”
EGR has contacted Betfred for comment.
The post Betfred handed £240,000 fine over slots mechanics breaches first appeared on EGR Intel.
Gambling Commission confirms penalty after discovering some games failed to show customers their net positions and were celebrating losses as wins
The post Betfred handed £240,000 fine over slots mechanics breaches first appeared on EGR Intel.