Australian bookmaker Betr has been reprimanded and fined AU$20,655 (€13,034) by the Northern Territory Racing Commission for targeting a known self-excluding gambler ahead of the Melbourne Cup.
The News Corp-backed company was found to have contacted the gambler identified as ‘Mr. M’ by phone and text message in early October. This was shortly after he had joined the Northern Territory’s self-exclusion register.
According to the NT Racing Commission, the self-exclusion register allows anyone from any region in Australia to self-exclude from betting companies that are based in the Norther Territory. This can be for a short period or indefinitely.
Betr is licensed to operate in the Northern Territory as so has an obligation to ensure that any self-excluding gamblers from the register are not included in their promotional campaigns. They also must never be contacted in any way without their express consent.
In its decision the commission said:
“Commission records indicate that Betr did receive a copy of the full list of self-excluded persons on 5 October 2022 which included Mr M’s details.”
Betr responded to the fine stating that the staff members who contacted Mr. M were unaware that he was on the register and had sourced his contact details from their previous employers. In its response to the commission Betr said:
“These communications took place between 5 and 10 October 2022 which was shortly prior to Betr’s launch, and before its customer database had finished being populated with and cross-checked by reference to all self-exclusion data provided by the commission.”
The commission’s statement added:
“Although Betr is a new licensee, the management of Betr … have been in the industry for many years holding similar positions within other Territory licensed bookmakers.
The Commission is therefore very disappointed that, under their leadership, affiliates and employees were permitted to contact any persons without having ensured the process of entering all of Territory self-exclusions into the Betr systems was completed.”
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.