UKGC fines Camelot £300,000 for results mishap

Updating the market, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has fined UK National Lottery operator £300,000 for publishing inaccurate ‘Lotto Millionaire Raffle’ results on its website property.

Following an investigation into the results publishing, UKGC officials stated that Camelot had placed ‘public confidence at risk’.

Issuing further details, The Commission’s investigations into this error found that Camelot had breached the terms of its operating licence in two key respects: that processes and procedures were not fit for purpose and that players were misled.

Commission Executive Director Sarah Gardner commented on Camelot’s fine;

“It is essential that the public can have confidence in how the National Lottery is run. Camelot’s failures on this occasion resulted in a significant number of National Lottery players being misled and so put at risk that public confidence.

“When errors occur, it is essential that the interests of players are put first and we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to take the necessary action to make requirements clear and to deter the likelihood of future incidents.”

Daniel Dyball, Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Camelot, was quick to offer a mea culpa for the company:

“We absolutely accept that we made a mistake in each of the cases and are very sorry that they happened. We therefore accept that licence breaches occurred and, in the one case in which a financial penalty was imposed, have paid it. Public confidence in The National Lottery is of paramount importance and we believe our outstanding operational record over the last 22 years underlines how seriously we take our responsibilities to players.

“The incidents, which took place back in 2015 and were caused by human error, were quickly identified and promptly fixed. We also took immediate action to communicate the correct results and to strengthen our internal processes to minimise the chances of these specific issues happening again.

“Returns to National Lottery Good Causes were not adversely affected by any of the incidents and Camelot did not benefit financially as a result of the errors.”