Tabcorp has received a penalty of $262,920 after it took online in-play sports bets, which is illegal in Australia.
An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that the operator accepted 854 in-play bets across 69 tennis matches between April – October 2023.
Authority member Carolyn Lidgerwood detailed that the ban on online in-play betting is in place to protect vulnerable people, explaining: “In-play betting increases access to gambling opportunities and exacerbates the risks of gambling harm, as people can place bets with high frequency on multiple outcomes during sporting events.
“There has been significant growth in online sports betting in recent years and it’s important all online wagering services have systems in place so that illegal in-play bets are not accepted.”
Online in-play betting – wagers made on a sporting event after it has begun – is prohibited in the country under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
Furthermore, during the investigation, Tabcorp said that the breaches occurred due to a technical ‘bug’ in its systems. However, while the problem first occurred in April 2023, it was not fixed until October 2023.
“Tabcorp is a major wagering operator and it is concerning that it took some 6 months for the system error to be identified and fixed,” added Lingerwood.
In addition to paying the $262,920 penalty, Tabcorp has also advised the ACMA of controls it now has in place and future steps it will be taking to minimize the risk of online in-play bets being accepted.
In its consideration of this matter, the ACMA reportedly also took into account that Tabcorp had voided all bets so consumers did not suffer any losses and Tabcorp did not profit from the errors.
Tabcorp was previously issued a formal warning by the ACMA in November 2021 for accepting in-play bets on a US college basketball game.
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