The operator of Betfred.com has been issued a £240,000 penalty by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for having online slot features which breached industry standards.
Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, which runs betfred.com and oddsking.com (no longer operational), was discovered by the Commission to be operating slot games that failed to meet Remote Technical Standards (RTS), including “hosting games which failed to display the consumer’s net position and games which celebrated losses as wins”.
All gaming sessions are required by RTS to clearly show a customer’s net position, and a gambling system must not celebrate returns that are less than or equal to the total stake gambled.
The UKGC raised concerns about the celebratory effects’ fairness when a customer was in an overall losing position, as it may “negatively impact a player’s ability to interpret their gameplay accurately and make informed choices”. According to the report, Petfre (Gibraltar) immediately took action, decommissioning the affected titles.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, noted: “Features that impair a consumer’s ability to make informed decisions are not appropriate and pose a clear risk.
“While we acknowledge the operator acted swiftly to remove the affected games, this enforcement action should serve as a clear signal to the wider industry to review and strengthen their compliance practices — and to ensure that gameplay is fair and consumers are not exposed to unnecessary risk.”
Petfre (Gibraltar) has previously faced regulatory action from the UKGC, as the operator was fined £2.87m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures in 2022.
UPDATE: When asked to comment on the fine from the UKGC, a Betfred spokesperson told iGaming Expert: “When we identified the issue with games provided by a third-party supplier, we acted quickly to remove them and reported the issue to the Gambling Commission. This experience has helped us improve and strengthen our safeguards.
“We’re committed to player protection and ensuring the very best and most transparent experience for all our customers.”