National Lottery app back live after month-long downtime
Operator could still face financial penalties following ongoing Gambling Commission investigation
Camelot has restored its flagship National Lottery app to the Apple App Store, almost a month after it was deactivated due to a technical issue that saw it incorrectly identify winning tickets as losers.
The iOS version of the app is now live again in the App Store, with Camelot expecting the Android version to follow “later this week”.
The downtime is expected to result in a significant financial cost for the operator, with mobile sales in H1 amounting to å£284.7m, or approximately å£47m a month.
However, a spokesperson for Camelot downplayed the impact, insisting the bulk of mobile sales came through the mobile website.
“We’re really pleased that the iOS version of the National Lottery app is now back, after rigorous testing, and we’re hoping the Android version will be back very soon,”the spokesperson said.
“Although the vast majority of app users wouldn’t have been affected by the issue, we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused while the app was locked.
“In terms of sales, the vast majority of our mobile sales are from the mobile website, rather than the app, and the app lock screen re-directed to mobile site.”
The financial impact could extend beyond lost sales however, with the Gambling Commission announcing last month it was conducting an investigation into the app’s misfirings.
A similar investigation in July saw Camelot hit with a å£300,000 fine for providing inaccurate results on its National Lottery site, an error the Gambling Commission said placed “public confidence at risk”.
The Gambling Commission told EGR it wouldn’t comment on individual cases, but no penalties have yet been listed against Camelot on the regulator’s sanctions register.