Betfred operator hit with £240,000 fine over fairness of slot celebration effects
The British Gambling Commission said some online slot games breached industry standards.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has issued a £240,000 penalty against Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited following a regulatory finding that features in some of its online slot games breached industry standards. The regulator says that the company, which runs betfred.com and oddsking.com, operated a selection of slot games which failed to meet the requirements of the Remote Technical Standards (RTS).
Failings included hosting games which failed to display the consumer’s net position and games which celebrated losses as wins. The Commission’s RTS states all gaming sessions must clearly display a customer’s net position and that a gambling system must not celebrate a return which is less than or equal to the total stake gambled.
The Gambling Commission had concerns about the fairness of celebratory effects when a consumer was in an overall losing position, noting that they may negatively impact a player’s ability to interpret their gameplay accurately and make informed choices.
The regulator said the licensee took immediate action and promptly decommissioned all affected games. However, it’s the second time Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited has faced regulatory action. In 2022, the operator was fined £2.87m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
John Pierce, the Gambling Commission’s director of enforcement, said: “Features that impair a consumer’s ability to make informed decisions are not appropriate and pose a clear risk. While we acknowledge the operator acted swiftly to remove the affected games, this enforcement action should serve as a clear signal to the wider industry to review and strengthen their compliance practices — and to ensure that gameplay is fair and consumers are not exposed to unnecessary risk.”
