Regulation round-up 20 December 2016
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (14 December to 20 December 2016)
Camelot hit with £3m fine for “fraudulent pay-out”
National Lottery operator duped by deliberately damaged ticket
The Gambling Commission has fined Camelot £3m for a failure in its fraud-detection system that led to the operator paying out to a “fake” winner in 2009.
The ruling follows an in-depth investigation of the incident, which was brought to the attention of the Commission and the police last year.
The Commission said its investigation found it was “more likely than not that a fraudulent prize claim had been made and paid out” thanks to a deliberately damaged ticket.
Camelot would not give further details about the fraud thanks to an ongoing police investigation.
Polish parliament passes Gambling Act
The Polish parliament has approved the latest version of the country’s Gambling Act, adopting a state monopoly on online casino but an open licensing regime on sports betting.
Lawmakers approved the Government’s amendments to the Gambling Act last Thursday night by 244 votes to 186.
The biggest disappointment for operators will be the continued presence of the 12% tax on sports betting turnover, which the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has called “unworkable”.
Seven days in regulation:
RGA: Government must use our taxes to tackle problem gambling
The UK Government has been urged to use more of the £2.6bn it collected in gambling taxes last year to tackle gambling addiction, a problem which a GambleAware-commissioned report says costs the exchequer as much as £1.2bn a year.
The budgeting advice came from online industry body the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which said the Government needed to reinvest a larger percentage of the billions it collects in taxes from the industry into combating the problem.
The RGA, which represents the likes of Sky Betting & Gaming, Ladbrokes Coral and bet365, also pointed out the industry was a net contributor to British society through entertainment and social benefits.
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Swedish trade body merger talks collapse
Plans to form a joint trade organisation to provide self-regulation guidelines in Sweden have collapsed following a disagreement over consumer protection.
The Games Industry Ethics Council (SPER) and The Association of Online Gambling Operators (BOS) were in discussions to provide overall guidelines for self-regulation, with the goal of forming a joint trade organisation after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last summer.
However, talks between the two groups have been abandoned, largely over differences concerning consumer protection best-practice.