Online gambling firm ElectraWorks has been fined £350,000 by the Gambling Commission for misleading customers with adverts relating to free bonuses.
The operator has also been given a formal warning for failing to ensure that the person responsible for marketing at the business holds a personal management licence.
Back in August 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against ElectraWorks after the appearance of an advert offering a free bonus on its bwin.com website. It was found to breach codes relating to "free bet," “bonus" or similar offers. A second breach was found a week later on the Bwin website, with the advert removed by ElectraWorks after being alerted.
In April of last year, the Commission found six similar breaches on its casinoking.com, casinolasvegas.com, noblecasino.com, partycasino.com, partypoker.com and scasino.com websites. Two months later, the same breaches reoccurred on the same websites and in August 2017, a similar breach occurred on ElectraWorks’ casinolasvegas.com site.
Gambling Commission programme director Richard Watson said: “This fine should serve a warning to all gambling businesses that we will not hesitate to take action against those who mislead consumers with bonus offers or fail to ensure they are correctly licensed.”
The Competition and Markets Authority and Commission have been working to improve conditions for players gambling online. The CMA announced this month that three leading operators have formally committed to change how they offer bonus promotions to ensure players can always access and release their own money, with the Commission making it clear all firms should quickly adopt such changes.
