On 25 May 2023, the Gambling Commission of Great Britain announced that it had sanctioned PPB Counterparty Services (trading as Paddy Power and Betfair) for sending promotional push notifications to the devices of self-excluded customers. PPB has been fined £490,000 for the breach of its gambling licence.
On 26 November 2021, PPB notified the Commission that, on 21 November 2021, it had accidentally sent a push notification to certain devices that were linked to gambling accounts held by individuals who had used tools to self-exclude from gambling activities on the basis that they felt they had trouble controlling their gambling. The notification sent by PPB included an offer for placing bets on an upcoming football match. No complaints were received by either the Commission or PPB from customers who had received the message.
The Commission investigated the error and found that, as a result of sending the offer, PPB had failed to comply with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP) 3.5.3, and had therefore committed a breach of their gambling licence. SRCP 3.5.3 requires licensees to take all reasonable steps to prevent any marketing material being sent to a self-excluded customer and to take steps to remove the name and details of a self-excluded individual from any marketing databases within two days of receiving the self-exclusion notification.
As a result of the breach, the Commission imposed a financial penalty on PPB. However, this penalty was appealed by PPB to the First-Tier Tribunal. It is not clear on what grounds the appeal was made, but it may well have been because PPB regarded the proposed fine as excessive. In order to resolve the issue, the Commission and PPB agreed that they would end the appeal in exchange for PPB accepting a fine of £490,000. In addition, PPB agreed to obtain, at its own expense, an audit of its marketing processes by a third party.
Operators should take extra care to maintain and monitor their marketing lists to ensure that vulnerable customers who have made clear they do not want to gamble any more do not receive promotions or other communications. In this case, there was no suggestion that PPB had intentionally sent the marketing communications to self-excluded customers – rather the message was sent due to human error. Therefore, focusing on the processes and procedures in place for dealing with self-exclusions will help other operators avoid committing a similar breach of their licence.
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