Australia's largest betting agency has been fined $4.6 million and put on notice by a gambling watchdog after it was busted breaching licence and gambling rules.
A Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission investigation exposed Tabcorp for repeated breaches of its betting licence and the responsible gambling code between August 2
uary 2023.
In one instance, a Tabcorp account manager placed a "responsible gambling call" to the customer whose betting patterns were flagged by its o
g systems.
The punter had lost $135,000 within the space of a month following a large volume
trong>
The October 2022 call ended with the manager communicating that a deposit-match promotion of $2000 would be allocated to t
s account.
The incident was indicative of a culture of Tabcorp not taking seriously its harm minimisation obligations, commission
horn said.
"The recorded call provides evidence of a lack of commitment to responsible gambling policies and demonstrates a lack of concern for the customer's
she said.
"Instead of offering support or making suggestions to help the customer manage their gambling, the call was used as an opportunity to encourage them
gambling."
In total, 텐텐벳주소 the customer was contacted with promotional offers six times between October 2022 and February 2023 despite asking to opt-out of receiving such material when reopening thei
August 2020.
It wasn't until May 2023 that the customer's account
gain.
Other alleged breaches were failing to provide appropriate support to a customer exhibiting observable signs of distress or indicators of potential gambling harm, and failing to minimise the potential for gambling harm through inad
ing of staff.
While Tabcorp co-operated with the investigation, Ms Thorn said the breaches reflected systemic operational deficiencies and non-compliance with its licence conditions and resulted in "signifi
o a customer.
"The hefty fine, the largest the commission has ever issued to Tabcorp, is proportionate to the seriousness of the licensee
t," she said.
"It sends a clear message to the gambling industry that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable an
e tolerated."
The $4.6 million fine was half of the maximum penalty the regulator
eted out.
In December, Tabcorp paid the Victorian government $600 million up front to secure a 20-year extension to its ex
ring licence.
Senior Victorian minister Danny Pearson said the penalty sent a signal to Tabcorp's leadership, under new chief executive Gillon McLachlan, that the behaviou
be tolerated.
"I don't think any company that I have ever known is happy about copping a multi-million-dollar
ld reporters.
Tabcorp has been directed to clean up its act, with the watchdog vowing to actively monitor the implementation and effectiveness of a new program to
s operations.
In a statement, Tabcorp acknowledged the fine but did not say whether it woul
its severity.
"The harm minimisation measures in place by Tabcorp at the time did not meet community or regulatory expectations, nor did it meet the expectations that current management expect of the company and its p
company said.
"Tabcorp has since taken significant steps to improve customer safety, including restructuring the safer gambling team which has led to an increase in customer interventions."
A Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission investigation exposed Tabcorp for repeated breaches of its betting licence and the responsible gambling code between August 2uary 2023.
In one instance, a Tabcorp account manager placed a "responsible gambling call" to the customer whose betting patterns were flagged by its o
g systems.
The punter had lost $135,000 within the space of a month following a large volume
trong>
The October 2022 call ended with the manager communicating that a deposit-match promotion of $2000 would be allocated to t
s account.
The incident was indicative of a culture of Tabcorp not taking seriously its harm minimisation obligations, commission
horn said.
"The recorded call provides evidence of a lack of commitment to responsible gambling policies and demonstrates a lack of concern for the customer's
she said.
"Instead of offering support or making suggestions to help the customer manage their gambling, the call was used as an opportunity to encourage them
gambling."
In total, 텐텐벳주소 the customer was contacted with promotional offers six times between October 2022 and February 2023 despite asking to opt-out of receiving such material when reopening thei
August 2020.
It wasn't until May 2023 that the customer's account
gain.
Other alleged breaches were failing to provide appropriate support to a customer exhibiting observable signs of distress or indicators of potential gambling harm, and failing to minimise the potential for gambling harm through inad
ing of staff.
While Tabcorp co-operated with the investigation, Ms Thorn said the breaches reflected systemic operational deficiencies and non-compliance with its licence conditions and resulted in "signifi
o a customer.
"The hefty fine, the largest the commission has ever issued to Tabcorp, is proportionate to the seriousness of the licensee
t," she said.
"It sends a clear message to the gambling industry that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable an
e tolerated."
The $4.6 million fine was half of the maximum penalty the regulator
eted out.
In December, Tabcorp paid the Victorian government $600 million up front to secure a 20-year extension to its ex
ring licence.
Senior Victorian minister Danny Pearson said the penalty sent a signal to Tabcorp's leadership, under new chief executive Gillon McLachlan, that the behaviou
be tolerated.
"I don't think any company that I have ever known is happy about copping a multi-million-dollar
ld reporters.
Tabcorp has been directed to clean up its act, with the watchdog vowing to actively monitor the implementation and effectiveness of a new program to
s operations.
In a statement, Tabcorp acknowledged the fine but did not say whether it woul
its severity.
"The harm minimisation measures in place by Tabcorp at the time did not meet community or regulatory expectations, nor did it meet the expectations that current management expect of the company and its p
company said.
"Tabcorp has since taken significant steps to improve customer safety, including restructuring the safer gambling team which has led to an increase in customer interventions."