The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced that it has found a number of operators guilty of breaching the country’s rules on gambling. As reported by the authority, the gambling companies in question used “Fast/Quick Codes” to facilitate in-play betting on sports matches.

Violators, according to the ACMA, included Entain’s Ladbrokes and Neds, bet365 and Sportsbet.

The ACMA reminded companies that in-play betting on sports matches is prohibited under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, save for a few limited exceptions such as placing bets over the phone. However, in order for this exception to apply, a customer needs to provide their bet type, amount and confirmation via the phone call.

According to the ACMA, the aforementioned operators violated this rule by instead providing a Fast/Quick code option to customers. The codes in question embed the event, bet selection and bet type. Thanks to this, customers can just quote the Fast/Quick code to operators over the phone.

The ACMA Did Not Impose Further Sanctions

The ACMA explained that Ladbrokes and Neds, bet365 and Sportsbet all violated Australia’s rules on Fast/Quick Codes.

Ladbrokes and Neds (Entain), bet365 (Hillside) and Sportsbet (Sportsbet) in-play betting services were found to individually generate Fast/Quick Codes for each particular in-play bet when that bet was built by a customer via the service’s website or App – at least for the first customer.

ACMA statement

Australia’s communications regulator concluded that this betting information had been communicated via the website or app, rather than entirely via the phone call. As a result, the exception to the prohibition on in-play betting on sports matches did not apply.

In the wake of the investigation, all three operators in question have taken steps to make their Fast/Quick Codes compliant with the local rules. As a result, companies will only be able to generate such codes prior to the beginning of a sporting event, independent of customers selecting bets. These codes will be generic and the same for all customers, the ACMA added.

The ACMA acknowledged the three gambling companies’ quick reaction and decided not to impose sanctions.

Last month, the ACMA learned that the Seven Network Operations has breached the country’s gambling ad regulations. This was not the company’s first violation either, resulting in a penalty of $13,320.

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the country’s regulator of communications and media, announced it imposed a sanction against the leading gaming and entertainment company, Entain. Announced on April 28, the sanction comes after the Authority uncovered that two brands of the company offered online in-play betting. This resulted in an infringement notice of AU$ 13,320 ($8,800) against Entain.

ACMA explained that the financial sanction is the maximum penalty for this particular breach of the gambling regulation in the country, the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Additionally, the Authority explained that this is the first such infringement notice for this particular breach of the online in-play betting rules.

The breaches, which the ACMA deemed illegal, involve two of Entain’s brands, Ladbrokes and Neds. The media Authority explained that the two brands accepted a total of 78 online in-play bets during the final day of the Bangkok LIV Golf tournament, an event that was played back in October 2022.

“Entain Pty Ltd (Entain) has been penalized for online in-play betting after it was found that two of its services had accepted illegal bets on a LIV golf tournament,“

reads a statement released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority

A breakdown of the collected bets released by ACMA reveals that 59 bets were accepted via Ladbrokes, while Neds collected 19 bets. Considering that this happened after the event had started, those bets were voided, said the Authority.

On the day of the breach, Entain was alerted by a customer, but this happened three hours after the golf event started. Still, the company explained that it has reviewed and consequently updated its in-play compliance policies. Ultimately, with those actions, Entain sought to “ensure such errors do not occur again.”

“Entain is a highly experienced wagering operator and it is disappointing it did not have internal procedures in place to prevent or detect the error. The ACMA made it clear to the industry last year that they must have robust systems in place to ensure that online in-play bets are not made available or accepted.“

Nerida O’Loughlin, chair at ACMA

Nerida O’Loughlin, ACMA’s chair, acknowledged that it is disappointing to see an experienced operator like Entain allow such a breach. She reiterated that in 2022, the Authority clearly outlined that operators cannot accept online in-play bets.

O’Loughlin explained that such bets can result in increased wagering activities by gamblers given that they have fast outcomes. This, in turn, creates a risk for the customers, which is why such bets are not permitted, said ACMA’s chair in conclusion.

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