Online gambling operator Sky Betting and Gaming is to pay a £1.17m fine for sending promotional emails to customers who had self-excluded or opted out of receiving marketing.
The Gambling Commission for Great Britain reported that on 2 November 2021, the operator distributed a Sky Vegas promotional offer of “Bet £5 get 100 free spins” to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from the operator’s marketing emails.
It said these actions breached licence conditions aimed at ensuring gambling in Britain is socially responsible.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: “Self-excluded customers are likely to be suffering gambling harm and should absolutely not be sent direct marketing that could tempt them back into gambling.
“We would advise all operators to learn from Sky Betting and Gaming’s costly errors and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent the self-excluded, and those who have clearly rejected marketing, from receiving promotional material.”
He added: “This latest fine would have been a lot higher had Sky Betting and Gaming allowed any of the self-excluded customers to actually gamble, failed to cooperate, and not taken decisive action aimed at preventing a repeat.”
This latest fine from the Gambling Commission follows enforcement action in recent weeks against operators 888 and BetVictor which saw financial penalties totalling £11.4m.
