ACMA fines Betfair for VIP customer spam breaches
The operator has been ordered to pay US$567,082 for breaking Australian spam laws.
Australia.- The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ordered Betfair to pay a AU$871,660 (US$567,082) penalty after breaching spam laws in commercial messages sent to VIP customers. An investigation found that it sent 148 emails and text messages between March and December 2024 to customers who had not consented or had withdrawn their consent.
The investigation also found that Betfair sent six text messages and emails over the same period that did not contain an option to unsubscribe.
Samantha Yorke, an authority member, said: “VIP programs are generally designed to attract and retain customers with high betting activity; however, this doesn’t mean VIP customers are well off or can afford losses.
“Sending promotional gambling messages to these customers without consent or with no option to opt-out is incredibly irresponsible in addition to being non-compliant. The spam laws have been in place for over twenty years, and it is simply unacceptable for businesses not to respect the rights of their customers.”
Betfair has entered into a two-year court-enforceable undertaking that will require it to invest in an independent review of its marketing messages and implement improvements, as well as undertake staff training, quarterly internal audits and report to the ACMA regularly.
Last month, Tabcorp was fined AU$4m (US$2.6m) after an investigation by ACMA found that more than 5,700 marketing messages sent to customers on its VIP programme broke the law. The regulator found that TAB sent 2,598 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers between February 1 and May 1 2024 without providing an option to unsubscribe from the messages. It also found that 3,148 SMS and WhatsApp messages did not contain adequate sender information and 11 SMS messages were sent without consent between February 15 and April 29 2024.
