Flutter agrees to £2m UKGC settlement for indicators of harm failures
Flutter Entertainment has reached a £2m regulatory settlement with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) over social responsibility failures relating to customer interaction with its Paddy Power Betfair brands.
Social responsibility failures listed by the UKGC included having systems “not sensitive enough to identify indicators of harm”, resulting in customers making significant losses, deposits, stakes or activity before being identified for interaction.
In response, a Flutter UKI spokesperson has told iGaming Expert that there is “no suggestion” from the commission that any of the customers reviewed experienced any harm and that the operator believes it leads the industry in player protection.
Won’t be repeated
Flutter told iGaming Expert that the issues spotlighted in the UKGC investigation will not occur again.
“Flutter takes its safer gambling responsibilities incredibly seriously and we firmly believe that we lead the industry in player protection,” said a Flutter UKI spokesperson.
“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. We continue to invest in our technology and our people to raise standards in the regulated industry.”
This is the second time Paddy Power Betfair has faced regulatory action from the UKGC, as the operator was fined £490,000 for marketing to vulnerable customers in 2023.
Social responsibility failures
The UKGC stated that four remote operators, trading under the names Paddy Power and Betfair – PPB Entertainment Limited, PPB Counterparty Services Limited, Betfair Casino Limited, and TSE Malta LP – will pay the money as part of the settlement with the commission.
As previously mentioned, the listed social responsibility failures for Paddy Power Betfair included not having sensitive enough systems in place to identify harm indicators:
One customer deposited £12,000 over 15 days before they were identified for review.
Another customer deposited £25,000 in 25 days before being contacted.
A third customer lost £12,300 in five weeks before being identified for an interaction.
A fourth customer staked £86,000 over 16 days during which time they lost £6,000. No manual account review took place despite the high velocity of spend.
A fifth customer displayed concerning behaviour in terms of intense spikes in activity without interaction, with their longest session throughout 17 days being seven hours and 46 minutes. Over 300 bets amounting to £20,000 were placed in this period. Their gambling behaviour was only identified as an indicator of harm after hitting a loss trigger, at which time the account was manually reviewed.
Fully cooperative
However, the UKGC did list mitigating factors, as they said Paddy Power Betfair put an action plan in place swiftly that was designed to remedy the failings and provided updates, with some improvements taking place before the compliance assessment.
In addition, the operator was said to be fully cooperative with the commission’s investigation throughout, being open and collaborative and providing information by agreed deadlines. Paddy Power Betfair was also said to have “accepted the failings at an appropriately early stage in the investigation”.
John Pierce, Director of Enforcement at the UKGC, added: “This £2m settlement reflects the seriousness of the failings identified and the importance of meeting social responsibility and customer interaction standards.
“Our compliance assessment in 2024 uncovered examples where interactions fell far short of what is required. 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.
“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. Where we find failings, we will act decisively to protect players.”