Entain slapped with A$26,690 fine for offering sign-up bonuses
London-listed operator found guilty of violating Australian law after targeting new customers with incentives at sporting event
Entain has been fined A$26,690 (£14,301) by the Northern Territory Racing Commission after being found to have been offering sign-up bonuses in Australia.
Following an investigation, the Racing Commission concluded that Entain, via its Neds brand, had violated the Racing and Betting Act 1983 in the Northern Territory.
The charge relates to an incident on 31 July at Fannie Bay Racecourse in Darwin after a Racing Commission member reported a conversation between a racecourse visitor and a Neds business development manager (BDM).
The conversation was alleged to have involved the Neds representative offering the customer a bonus, should they sign up to a Neds account via a QR code on the representative’s business card.
Under the Racing and Betting Act 1983, a bookmaker “must not offer any credit, voucher or reward to a person to open a betting account”.
It was further alleged the Neds representative handed his business card to the customer and encouraged them to pass the message onto friends.
The aforementioned Racing Commission member was able to come into possession of the business card following the interaction and proceeded to scan the QR code at a later date.
After scanning the QR code, the member was able to open a new Neds account and in turn was targeted with three bonus offers, ranging from A$150 to A$250.
In response, Entain said the Neds representatives present at Fannie Bay were contracted to Neds under an affiliate arrangement and had been fully briefed on the legality of offering bonus bets to new customers.
Entain have fully accepted the charge from the Racing Commission and confirmed that it had terminated their engagement of the Neds representatives.
Entain said: “Any offer made by the Neds BDMs of this nature was not authorised, and clearly went against all of the directions and training that Neds has provided to its staff regarding sign up inducements.
“The action taken by Neds in response to this complaint, being immediate termination of the Neds BDMs together with a reminder to all other BDMs that this behaviour will result in termination, is sufficient to resolve the matter.”
Entain has previously been found guilty of violating the Racing and Betting Act 1983, which the Racing Commission chair noted in his final remarks.
Alastair Shields, Northern Territory Racing Commission chair, said: “Notwithstanding the previous breach and the very serious nature of this matter, the Commission has determined not to suspend or cancel Entain’s licence at this time but to impose once again the maximum fine.
“The Commission has also determined that given the serious nature of this breach, that this decision will be published on the Commission’s website so as to place all Northern Territory bookmakers on notice that the Commission will not tolerate such activities which are in clear breach of the code,” he added.