The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair has been ordered to pay £2 million for serious failures in protecting customers from potential gambling harm. The penalty follows a regulatory review which found the company acted too slowly to intervene with players showing dangerous betting patterns.
Specific Failures in Customer Protection
The Gambling Commission's investigation, concluded last year, uncovered multiple social responsibility breaches. The regulator stated that interactions with at-risk customers "fell far short" of acceptable standards.
Key cases highlighted include a gambler who staked £86,000 and lost £6,000 over a 16-day period. The firm only began a manual review of this customer's activity after the significant losses had accumulated. In another instance, a player placed more than 300 bets in under eight hours during a marathon session lasting seven hours and 46 minutes, with a total of £20,000 wagered.
The watchdog criticised the company's systems for not promptly identifying clear red flags. These included rapid spending, increasing deposits, overnight gambling, and sudden changes in betting behaviour. Interventions were often delayed until the following day.
Regulator's Stern Rebuke and Settlement
John Pierce, the commission's director of enforcement, said the £2 million settlement reflected the gravity of the failings. He emphasised that operators must have effective, timely systems to prevent harm.
"Over-reliance on automation and failure to intervene when clear harm indicators are present exposes consumers to unnecessary risk," Mr Pierce stated. The payment is described as "a payment in lieu of a financial penalty."
The commission acknowledged that Paddy Power Betfair, owned by Flutter Entertainment, had since quickly implemented a corrective plan and cooperated fully with the investigation.
Company Response and Past Record
A spokesperson for Flutter Entertainment said the group takes its safer gambling duties "incredibly seriously" and claims to have industry-leading safeguards. They asserted that none of the customers reviewed were found to have experienced harm.
"Our controls have evolved significantly," the spokesperson added, citing a new real-time safety platform and confidence that the identified issues would not recur.
This is not the first sanction for the operator. In 2023, the commission fined Paddy Power and Betfair £490,000 for sending marketing messages to vulnerable customers who had opted for self-exclusion.
