Paddy Power Betfair to pay £2m for failing to protect gamblers

Paddy Power Betfair is to wage £2m for acting excessively dilatory connected concerning lawsuit behaviours, including 1 subordinate who staked £86,000 implicit 16 days and different who placed 300 bets successful 8 hours.

The Gambling Commission recovered societal work failures successful a reappraisal of the steadfast past twelvemonth and said immoderate lawsuit interactions "fell acold short".

John Pierce, the watchdog's manager of enforcement, said the £2m colony reflected the seriousness of the case.

Betting firms indispensable person systems and processes to show enactment and place worrying behaviours, but Paddy Power Betfair's were recovered to beryllium lacking successful immoderate cases.

The committee said "the velocity of spend, expanding deposits, overnight gambling, and changing betting patterns did not look to beryllium identified by the licensees oregon acted upon until the adjacent day".

The steadfast failed to intervene accelerated capable contempt a lawsuit betting £86,000 and losing £6,000 implicit 16 days, with a manual reappraisal lone starting erstwhile the losses mounted.

It besides didn't promptly place different gambler who went connected a 17-day spree, including 1 league of 7 hours and 46 minutes successful which they enactment up £20,000 successful much than 300 bets.

Another gambler deposited £25,000 implicit 25 days earlier being interacted with, according to the commission's statement.

"Operators indispensable guarantee systems to place and code harm enactment efficaciously and astatine the close time," said Mr Pierce.

"Over-reliance connected automation and nonaccomplishment to intervene erstwhile wide harm indicators are contiguous exposes consumers to unnecessary risk."

The committee described the £2m arsenic "a outgo successful lieu of a fiscal penalty".

However, it said the steadfast had rapidly instigated a program to hole the failings and afloat cooperated with the investigation.

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In 2023, the committee besides fined Paddy Power and Betfair £490,000 for sending messages to the phones of susceptible customers who had asked to beryllium excluded.

A spokesperson for Flutter Entertainment - which owns Paddy Power Betfair - said it takes safer gambling responsibilities "incredibly seriously" and has industry-leading safeguards.

"Customer information is our fig 1 precedence and determination is nary proposition that immoderate of the customers reviewed by the Gambling Commission experienced immoderate harm," the spokesperson said.

"Our controls person evolved importantly and we precocious introduced a adjacent procreation lawsuit information platform, with the immense bulk of checks present happening successful real-time.

"As such, we are assured that the issues highlighted by the committee successful its nationalist connection would not beryllium repeated today."