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Betchoice Corporation, the parent company of online betting platform Unibet, has been fined $1.01 million for failing to close the accounts of 954 customers who had self-excluded from gambling.
The penalty, issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), follows a $500,800 fine issued last week by the communications regulator to PointsBet for breaching Australia’s e-marketing and gambling self-exclusion laws.
ACMA says the investigation into Unibet found more than 100,000 contraventions of the Interactive Gambling Act for not closing in a timely manner the accounts of clients who had registered with BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER).
The investigation found that 45 of the 954 customer accounts identified remained open for 190 days or more, including many who had registered to self-exclude from online and telephone betting on the first day of the NSER – which was launched on 21 August 2023.
While none of these self-excluded customers were able to place bets during their self-exclusion period, ACMA says the accounts should have been closed.
The ACMA investigation found that Unibet also provided wagering services to 45 customers after they ceased to be registered with the NSER, using old accounts that should have been closed.
ACMA found evidence that these customers were able to place thousands of bets through these accounts after their NSER registration ended, including one customer who placed more than 1,200 bets on their old account.
ACMA member and gambling lead Carolyn Lidgerwood describes the actions by Unibet as a “significant lapse” in the company’s NSER compliance processes.
“Our investigation found very serious breaches by Unibet over a sustained period of time,” says Lidgerwood.
“Taking in some cases 190 days to close accounts is clearly unacceptable and does not reflect the decisions made by Unibet customers to seek support to help them not gamble.
“The NSER rules are also there to ensure that people are making a clear and deliberate choice to recommence gambling. That is not the case if they can simply access old accounts.
“We recognise that no bets were made from these Unibet accounts or marketing sent while customers were self-excluded. However, this outcome puts the industry on notice that they must comply with the rules or face potential financial penalties and other actions available to the ACMA under the Interactive Gambling Act.”
On top of the fine, ACMA has accepted a two-year court-enforceable undertaking from Unibet that commits the company to a comprehensive independent review of its compliance systems and processes and the implementation of recommended improvements.
Unibet has also voluntarily undertaken to issue refunds to affected customers.
Meanwhile, the action against online gambling platform PointsBet by the communications watchdog found that the company sent more than 800 messages that breached Australia’s spam laws.
PointsBet also contravened laws relating to the NSER by delaying closing accounts of customers who had registered and sending marketing messages to self-excluded persons offering a direct link to its betting products without including an unsubscribe function.
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