French gambling regulator hits Unibet with record fine over self-exclusion breakdown 

A malfunction at the Kindred-owned brand lasted for nearly two years. 

France.- The French gambling regulator, L’ Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has issued its biggest fine since its creation in 2020. It’s ordered Kindred’s Unibet to pay €800,000 due to a major malfunction in its self-exclusion system.

The malfunction lasted for close to two years and allowed thousands of users of Apple iOS-based devices to access gambling despite having self-excluded. The issue began in March 2021 and was only fixed by Unibet in December 2022. Even then, the problem appeared again due to a technical issue that lasted from the end of December 2022 to February 2023.

SPS Betting, the registered operating company, did not deny the findings but suggested that the number of people affected would have been less than what the regulator estimates. The ANJ calculated that 6,754 players who had requested self-exclusion would have been able to resume gambling, while SPS says the number that “actually suffered damage” could “not have exceeded more than 100 players”. 

SPS said it was not possible for the regulator to determine how many players were affected. However, it wasn’t able to prove its own estimate either. When calculating the severity of the fine, the ANJ took into consideration Unibet’s considerable presence in the market and the fact that it has already been fined twice before in France. The last fine was for exceeding France’s 85 per cent return to player limit.

The ANJ said: “It is worth noting the ineffectiveness of the corrective measures it implemented, as they failed to quickly put an end to the malfunction. The ability for players to self-exclude is a crucial safeguard in online gambling.”

Unibet has up to two months in which it can appeal against the decision. For two weeks, it must display a message on its homepage highlighting the sanction.

Kindred, the Swedish parent company of Unibet, was bought by France’s Groupe Française des Jeux (FDJ) in October as the former state monopoly, which still runs France’s lottery, continues its global expansion. FDJ will report its annual financial results on Thursday (March 6). It’s still not clear exactly how or to what extent FDJ plans to integrate Kindred’s assets.