Camelot has been fined £3.15 million for incorrectly informing 20,000 players that they did not have winning tickets and for marketing to people at risk of developing gambling addictions. The Gambling Commission imposed the penalties today following an investigation into three concerns with the National Lottery app.
Between November 2016 and September 2020, up to 20,000 players who checked their numbers via a QR scanner on the app were wrongly informed they had lost tickets. As if that were not enough, the National Lottery operator double-charged 22,210 clients via its National Lottery app, according to a Gambling Commission study. Camelot later repaid them.
Self-Excluded Issues Present an Issue
Around 65,400 people who had either self-excluded via Gamstop, a gambling restriction service, or were identified by Camelot as showing indicators of gambling damage received marketing messages, albeit none of them could purchase a lottery ticket via the app.
A spokeswoman for Camelot stated that the company strives to manage the National Lottery to the “highest conceivable standards.”
“We apologise that certain of our controls fell short in very specific instances and have paid the punishment,” they added.
The fine will be donated to charitable organisations.
“We are reassured that Camelot has taken steps to ensure that their National Lottery app is fit for purpose,” Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes said.
“However, we must warn Camelot that any breach of their responsibilities would result in penalties. Today’s announcement reaffirms that the Commission will investigate any operator who violates their licence conditions, and we will not hesitate to levy fines.”
The announcement comes less than a week after it was disclosed that Camelot’s licence to operate the game would expire after 30 years, with the Gambling Commission stating plans to favour competitor operator Allwyn.