The Norwegian Gambling Authority (NGA) has notified state-owned operator Norsk Tipping it could receive a fine of up to NOK10m (£746,697) for June’s Eurojackpot draw error.
This summer, 47,000 players were incorrectly informed they had won huge prizes, while 30,000 received notification of their ‘win’ via SMS or push notifications on their mobile phones.
The issue was caused by an error in the coding system that converts Norwegian kroner into euros. It had mistakenly multiplied by 100, rather than dividing by 100.
The fine amount equates to 0.1% of Norsk Tipping’s turnover, which sat at NOK10.2bn in 2024.
Atle Hamar, director of the NGA, said: “Players should be able to trust Norsk Tipping, and this is a serious breach of trust.
“Of course, it must be brutal when you receive a message that you have won a big prize, and then it is not true. This case is harmful to the trust in Norsk Tipping and created strong reactions.”
The authority added that the fact the error wasn’t detected until after the prize message had been sent to users was “reprehensible”.
Norsk Tipping has been informed that it has three weeks to respond to the NGA’s fine notice before the regulator reaches a final decision regarding the penalty amount.
The NGA reassured the draw itself was conducted correctly and that Norsk Tipping has already implemented multiple measures to avoid similar errors in future draws.
The regulator’s update also revealed it would be launching a major inspection of three Norsk Tipping-owned games – Lotto, Vikinglotto and Eurojackpot.
This is due to a series of errors detected recently, including how players on iPhones and iPads were unable to log out of Norsk Tipping accounts for four months last year.
Around the same time, one player was mistakenly paid NOK25m from the operator’s KongKasino game.
Additionally, multiple draw errors in both the Eurojackpot and the Lotto super draw have meant players in cooperatives, cooperative banks and gambling clubs have had a higher chance of winning in every single draw for several years.
The NGA stated: “Norsk Tipping has poor control over its games, and the cases show a fundamental problem in both the system and controls. There are serious errors, and they have not been discovered until the consequences are major.”
In September, Carl Frederik Sørensen, the head of the Norwegian gambling trade body, said the consequences for Norsk Tipping’s mistakes were “virtually non-existent”.
The post Norsk Tipping could face NOK10m fine after Eurojackpot draw error first appeared on EGR Intel.
State-owned operator informed by the Norwegian Lottery Authority that it will be the subject of a “major inspection” after multiple high-profile mistakes since last year
The post Norsk Tipping could face NOK10m fine after Eurojackpot draw error first appeared on EGR Intel.