ACMA fines Betchoice for breaching self-exclusion rules

The Unibet operator has been fined AU$1.01m for failing to close the accounts of 954 customers.

Australia.- The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a AU$1.01m (US$651.000) fine against Betchoice, the operator of Unibet, for not closing the accounts of 954 customers who registered with BetStop, the national self-exclusion register. An investigation found over 100,000 contraventions of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA rules).

According to ACMA, 45 customer accounts remained open for 190 days or more, including many who had registered to self-exclude from online and telephone betting on BetStop’s first day. While none were able to place bets during their self-exclusion period, the accounts should have been closed.

Unibet also provided betting services to 45 customers after their NSER registration ended via old accounts that should have been closed. The ACMA said one of these customers made over 1,200 bets.

According to the IGA rules, once someone registers with the NSER, betting providers must close their account as soon as possible. If the person’s self-exclusion period ends and they wish to bet again, they must open a new account instead of using the old one.

ACMA member and gambling lead Carolyn Lidgerwood said: “Our investigation found very serious breaches by Unibet over a sustained period of time. Taking in some cases 190 days to close accounts is clearly unacceptable and does not reflect the decisions made by Unibet customers to seek support to help them not gamble.

“The NSER rules are also there to ensure that people are making a clear and deliberate choice to recommence gambling. That is not the case if they can simply access old accounts. We recognise that no bets were made from these Unibet accounts or marketing sent while customers were self-excluded. However, this outcome puts the industry on notice that they must comply with the rules or face potential financial penalties and other actions available to the ACMA under the IGA.”

The ACMA has accepted a two-year commitment from Unibet to review its compliance systems and improve them. The company has also agreed to issue refunds to affected customers who accessed accounts that should have been closed.

A week ago, the ACMA fined PointsBet AU$500,800 (US$320,512) over a series of promotional emails. ACMA said that between September and November 2023, the company sent 705 emails without an unsubscribe function. PointsBet wrongly classified the emails as “non-commercial” although they promoted gambling services and fell under spam rules.

It also sent seven marketing emails without the recipients’ consent and 90 commercial texts without clear sender contact information. Between August and September 2023, the online gambling provider broke rules related to BetStop, by delaying the closure of customer accounts and sending 508 marketing messages to self-excluded people.