An Australian sports betting operator has faced an AU$13,770 fine after using a promotional offer to reach out to hundreds of gamblers who had previously asked to be suspended from betting and advertising associated with such services.
Amused Group, which operates the popular BetNation brand, send a promotional email to a total of 7,713 people as part of a campaign called “Who wants to be a millionaire?” and informed the targetted users that it would accept wagers worth up to AU$1,000 on any horse participating in the Melbourne Cup. However, the company included 772 people who had previously asked to be excluded from gambling through the state’s gambling regulator or directly by the company to the group of users that was targeted by the promotional email campaign. Furthermore, the operator also informed customers that they could win bonus payments worth up to AU$50 in case the horse chosen by them ran second to tenth.
Earlier this week, the Northern Territory Racing Commission (NTRC), which is the watchdog responsible for the oversight and regulation of most online gambling operators in Australia because they are registered in the territory, called the breach serious and issued a warning to all gambling companies.
In its decision to impose the aforementioned monetary penalty, the regulator explained that a person who had self-excluded from gambling had almost immediately reached out to the watchdog to inform it of the problem. A further 10 complaints were then received from people facing different levels of anger and distress as a result of receiving the email promotion.
Melbourne Cup Promotional Material Sent to Self-Excluded Gamblers by Error
Under the provisions of the responsible online gambling code in the Northern Territory, companies are required to make sure they had implemented suitable procedures in place in order to make sure that no advertising correspondence or promotional materials are sent to individuals who had either requested that no such information is sent to them or had excluded from gambling services.
According to the Northern Territory Racing Commission’s official decision, Amused Group explained that email correspondence had been sent to the wrong customer list as a result of a human error. The watchdog’s decision also states that the online gambling operator acted quickly and sent another email, retracting the promotional one, apologising for the mistake, and advising customers how to make a complaint about the issue.
As confirmed by the gambling regulatory body, no self-excluded individuals were able to open or reopen an anoint and place a bet. The Racing Commission further shared that corrective and preventative measures had been already put in place in order to prevent another occurrence of this type of error.
The gambling watchdog confirmed that the Amused Group had not intentionally sent the promotional material to target vulnerable customers but still decided to impose the maximum financial penalty that could have been rolled out because it considered the issue a serious breach. The NTRC also noted that the error could have potentially inflicted significant harm to problem gamblers who have taken positive steps to prevent themselves from opening and running a betting account.
However, not everyone was pleased with the actions of the Commission. According to some campaigners, the AU$13,770 fine was too small in comparison to what revenue is generated by gambling operators from their customers, and particularly from the ones who find it hard to control their gambling, including some self-excluded gamblers.
- Author
Olivia Cole
