Gambling firm fined £2m after failing to protect vulnerable users

Paddy Power Betfair has been ordered to pay £2 million following a Gambling Commission investigation that uncovered significant social responsibility failings.

The gambling watchdog found the company failed to intervene swiftly enough when customers exhibited concerning betting behaviours, with its customer interactions deemed to have "fell far short" of expected standards.

A compliance assessment last year highlighted one case where a customer staked £86,000 over just 16 days, losing £6,000, before the Flutter Entertainment-owned firm initiated a manual review only after losses escalated.

In another instance, the company was criticised for its delayed response to a gambler who engaged in intense betting sprees, including one session lasting nearly eight hours, involving more than 300 bets totalling £20,000.

John Pierce, commission director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, said: “This £2 million settlement reflects the seriousness of the failings identified and the importance of meeting social responsibility and customer interaction standards.”

He added: “These failings should never have occurred. While the licensees co-operated fully with the investigation, accepted the failings early and implemented an action plan quickly, this immediate response is the minimum we expect from operators when serious shortcomings are identified.”

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Betting firms must put in place systems and processes to monitor gambling activity to identify worrying behaviours from the point when an account is opened.

While Paddy Power had several systems in place, the examples of failures uncovered showed “the velocity of spend, increasing deposits, overnight gambling, and changing betting patterns did not appear to be identified by the licensees or acted upon until the next day,” according to the commission.

Mr Pierce said: “Operators must ensure systems to identify and address harm work effectively and at the right time.

“Over-reliance on automation and failure to intervene when clear harm indicators are present exposes consumers to unnecessary risk.”

Four operators trading under the names Paddy Power and Betfair – PPB Entertainment, PPB Counterparty Services, Betfair Casino and TSE Malta – will pay the money as part of the settlement.

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It marks the second sanction in just over two years for the firm, with the commission fining Paddy Power and Betfair £490,000 in 2023 for sending promotional push notifications to vulnerable customers, who had signed up to exclude themselves.

A spokesperson for Flutter’s UK and Ireland business said: “Flutter takes its safer gambling responsibilities incredibly seriously and we firmly believe that we lead the industry in player protection.

“Customer safety is our number one priority and there is no suggestion that any of the customers reviewed by the Gambling Commission experienced any harm.

“Our controls have evolved significantly and we recently introduced a next generation customer safety platform, with the vast majority of checks now happening in real-time.

“As such, we are confident that the issues highlighted by the commission in its public statement would not be repeated today.”