March 2022 is turning out to be a pretty lousy month for Camelot, the current operator of the UK National Lottery. Earlier this week, the Great Britain Gambling Commission (GC) fined the operator £3.15 million for multiple regulatory failures in relation to its mobile app.
Camelot’s big fine came on the heels of even worse news last week, when Camelot officials announced that the company would be ending its 28-year as the National Lottery’s operator. But that didn’t keep the GBGC from focusing on Camelot’s recent mobile app blunders.
Regulators charge that Camelot had several mobile app violations that led to the fine, not the least of which was the failure of the app to inform as many as 20,000 players of winning tickets. These violations occurred between October 2016 and September 2020.
Camelot officials were also accused of double charging players who played through the mobile app while providing only one draw. These players have been informed of the error and offered either cash refunds or new draws.
Finally, Camelot is also accused of failing to cease marketing efforts to players who had entered their names on self-exclusion lists. This violation involved some 65,400 players who were on the list, but ultimately went on to buy lottery tickets.
Commenting in a statement posted on the GC official website, Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission Chief Executive said, “We are reassured that Camelot has taken steps to make sure that their National Lottery app is fit for purpose.”
“However we must caution Camelot that any failings on their duties will be met with consequences. Today’s announcement reinforces that any operator failing to comply with their licence requirements will be investigated by the Commission and we will not hesitate to issue fines if requirements are breached,” he added.