As Casino Guardian recently reported, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) hit Entain with a monetary penalty a few days ago. The British gambling giant faced an AU$13,000 fine for accepting illegitimate in-play bets on the final day of the LIV golf tournament that took place in Bangkok in October 2022.
As revealed at the time, the fine imposed by the ACMA was the biggest allowed by law.
Now, the company has acknowledged that it violated gambling laws by accepting illegal bets but also claimed that the breach occurred as a result of a simple clerical error.
Entain accepted the fine, explaining that the issue was caused by a typo. The British gambling company claims that an employee had incorrectly entered the start time for the LIV golf tournament in the system, and no warning that the competition was already underway was triggered by the operator’s systems.
According to a statement released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority at the time when the monetary penalty was announced, Entain let its Neds and Ladbrokes online sports betting platforms accept a total of 78 wagers after the beginning of the aforementioned golf tournament. In-play bets are currently legal in multiple jurisdictions around the world, but Australian lawmakers still believe that it is hard for avid punters to control themselves, so they do not allow them to place live wagers.
Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 Suspends In-Play Bets to Tackle Gambling-Related Harm
The “clerical error” has allowed bettors to place their bets on the event for three hours, with Entain only realising there was a problem with its systems when a user managed to get in contact with customer support and ask a company representative to look into the issue.
As Casino Guardian shared, by that time, Ladbrokes had taken 59 in-play bets, while Neds had accepted 19 bets. For the time being, there is no information about the amount of money the wagers were worth or how much may have been at stake. Entain, however, cancelled all 78 bets, called them void, and returned the money to its customers.
The British gambling giant became the first operator ever to receive a fine for breaching the rules for online live betting in Australia. When accepting the fine, Entain noted that it had responded to the violation findings by reviewing and updating its procedures for live betting in order to make sure a similar error no longer occurs.
For the time being, it is Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 that establishes the rules for what is and is not allowed in the online gambling industry. The piece of legislation covers all types of gambling activities that take place in the country through downloadable mobile applications and online gambling platforms, as well as through phone-in services. Currently, only companies holding a licence in Australia are allowed to offer sports betting services to local customers. As mentioned above, in-play sports betting is not legally permitted in the country because it is considered a form of gambling that increases the risk for problem gamblers and people experiencing gambling-related harm.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority maintains a special database of licensed online gambling operators in the country to help Australians determine whether a certain interactive gambling platform is legitimate or not.
- Author
Olivia Cole
