Watchdog clamps down on the rogue online bookies
Competition and Markets Authority says promotions ‘confusing and unclear’
Britain’s competition regulator is to clamp down on online gambling companies that it suspects of breaking consumer law with “confusing” and “unfair” sign-up promotions.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said yesterday that it is to take enforcement action because punters are not getting the deal they expect due to the associated small print.
Crucially, the regulator says it has found evidence of some online betting sites “unfairly holdingontopeople’smoney”. Their sign-up promotions for poker, horse-racing etc are designed to attract players on to casino-like gaming websites by offering bonus cash when consumers put up their own money. But the CMA, which launched its probe into the gambling sector in October 2016 and was aided by the Gambling Commission, said online betting terms and con“sadly, ditions were often “confusing and unclear and, in some cases, may be unfair”.
The CMA said: “Customers might have to play hundreds of times before they are allowed to withdraw any money, so they don’t have the choice to walk away with their winnings when they want to.
“Even when players haven’t signed up for a promotion, there are concerns that some operators are stopping customers taking money out of their accounts.”
The regulator said that it had heard from about 800 “unhappy” customers. It added that, having identified a number of operators engaging in practices likely to be breaking consumer law, it is now taking enforcement action.
Nisha Arora, CMA senior director for consumer enforcement, said: “We know online gambling is always going to be risky, but firms must also play fair.
“People should get the deal they’re expecting if they sign up to a promotion and be able to walk away with their money when they want to.
we have heard this isn’t always the case. New customers are being enticed by tempting promotions only to find the dice are loaded against them.
“Andplayerscanfindawhole host of hurdles in their way when they want to withdraw their money. That’s why we are today launching enforcement action where we think the law has been broken.
“We are also asking people who have had difficulties withdrawing their money when they’ve gambled online to tell us about it, and help probe this issue even further.”
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), whose members include many online gambling firms, said it would take some time “to digest and consider properly” the CMA announcement.
However, the RGA added that “where failings are identified companies individually will rectify them. If there are generic lessons to be learned then we will work with the Gambling Commission to bring those to the attention of the wider industry with a view to raising standards across the board”.
mflanagan@scotsman.com