Online casino operators must offer services in compliance with their gaming regulators, in order to stay in business. For online casino sites in the United Kingdom, this means following the rules and regulations set forth by the Gambling Commission. Just recently it was announced that LeoVegas was fined a large sum of money due to failing to protect problem gamblers. The Commission ordered the operator to pay £600,000 due to a series of issues uncovered during a license review of the company.
The review found that LeoVegas had failed to protect problem gamblers when it came to their self-exclusion systems. Gamblers are supposed to be able to ban themselves from placing bets with a company and that company is supposed to follow certain protocols once a person decides to participate in the self-exclusion program.
The UK Gambling Commission found that almost 1,900 customers of LeoVegas were sent marketing materials, even though they had signed up to be excluded. During a two month time frame, over 400 customers of the casino were able to wager £200,000 without the brand contacting the consumer or providing a cooling off period of 24 hours.
The fine also included actions by the online casino operator involving television advertisements. LeoVegas did not return money to more than 11,000 individuals who chose to self-exclude and close their online gaming account. Customers will receive over £14,000 due to the settlement reached between the Commission and LeoVegas.
The penalty also covered advertisements created by LeoVegas from April of last year until January of this year including promotions that did not mention restrictions. Reportedly, LeoVegas experienced a software error which lead to the self-exclusion issues.
The UK Gambling Commission has decided to become stricter when it comes to violations of gaming companies that fail to meet set standards of licensing conditions or when customers are misled. The fine set against LeoVegas is just one example as to how the watchdog is ready to penalize operators for failing to meet regulation requirements.
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