Paddy Power, Betfair ordered to pay £2m by gambling watchdog

(Sharecast News) - Paddy Power and Betfair have agreed to pay £2m after an investigation by the Gambling Commission revealed social responsibility failures, it was confirmed on Wednesday. The regulator said four remote operators, trading under the names Paddy Power and Betfair - both part of Flutter Entertainment - would pay the money as part of a settlement with the regulator.

The failures centred around the companies failing to step in quickly enough when customers engaged in potentially harmful behaviours.

Examples identified during the 2024 compliance assessment included one customer being allowed to lose £12,300 in five weeks before being flagged for an interaction; another depositing £12,000 over 15 days before being flagged; and no manual review taking place when a customer staked £86,000 over 16 days.

John Pierce, commission director of enforcement at the Commission, said: "The £2m settlement reflects the seriousness of the failings identified and the importance of meeting social responsibility and customer interaction standards."

Pierce acknowledged that the licensees - PPB Entertainment, PPB Counterparty Services, Betfair Casino and TSE Malta - had co-operated fully with the investigation, accepted the failings and had quickly implemented an action plan.

However, he added: "This immediate response is the minimum we expect from operators when serious shortcomings are identified.

"These fallings should never have occurred."

A Flutter UK and Ireland spokesperson said: "Flutter takes its safer gambling responsibilities incredibly seriously.

"Customer safety is our number one priority and there is no suggestion that any of the customers reviewed by the Commission experienced any harm.

"Our controls have evolved significantly and we recent introduced a next generation customer safety platform, with the vast majority of checks happening in real time.

"As such we are confident that the issues highlighted by the Commission in its public statement would not be repeated today."

The £2m payment is the second time Paddy Power and Betfair have faced regulatory action, after they were ordered to pay £490,000 by the Commission in 2023 for marketing to vulnerable customers.