Paddy Power Betfair Fined £490k for Violations of Safer iGaming Guidelines

PPB Counterparty Services Limited, operating under the names Paddy Power and Betfair, is set to pay a £490,000 fine for issuing promotional push notifications to devices associated with customers who had voluntarily opted for self-exclusion.

On November 21, 2021, the iGaming operator’s app sent out a promotional message detailing enhanced odds for bets on an English Premier League football match. These notifications were distributed to devices connected with accounts registered under GAMSTOP or to those tied to accounts where customers had requested self-exclusion directly with the operator.

Such actions contravene the regulations set forth by the Commission, which mandate that iGaming businesses must take all reasonable precautions to avoid sending any marketing materials to a self-excluded customer. Additionally, businesses are required to act promptly to eliminate the name and details of a self-excluded individual from any marketing databases within two days of receiving the completed self-exclusion notification.

Kay Roberts, Gambling Commission Executive Director of Operations said, “Although there is no evidence the marketing was intentional, nor that all the people with apps saw the notification or that self-excluded customers were allowed to gamble, we take such breaches seriously.

“We would advise all operators to learn from the operator’s failures and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent self-excluded customers from being sent promotional material.”