UKGC imposes penalty on Camelot

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has found Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd (Camelot) in breach of its licence to operate the National Lottery and has imposed a financial penalty of £100,000, following the initial miscalculation and subsequent communication and publication of an incorrect National Lottery Lotto jackpot prize amount in October 2013.

After a full investigation, and taking account of representations from Camelot, the Commission found that Camelot had failed to ensure that its bespoke processes and procedures put in place in respect of this key area for the re-launch of Lotto were fit for purpose and had thereby acted in contravention of Condition 5.10A(b) of the licence granted pursuant to section 5 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 (as amended).  As a result of this breach a financial penalty of £100,000 has been imposed together with a direction for Camelot to commission an independent review, subject to consultation on scope, of its related control environment performance.

The incident led to three Lotto jackpot winning ticket holders initially being informed by Camelot that they had won more than in fact they had.  The original jackpot broadcast was £6.2m, which was revised down to £4.8m once Camelot had discovered the error. The winners were subsequently told the correct prize amount before any prize money had been transferred/paid out and the Commission is confident that the winners did receive the correct prize amount under the rules of the game.

The Commission’s Chair, Philip Graf, said “While this is an isolated incident, this is a serious matter, as confidence in the accurate calculation of prize monies is a critical part of maintaining public trust in the integrity of the National Lottery.

“Camelot has put measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We will continue to monitor Camelot to ensure it meets the requirements of the licence and that the interests of players are protected.”