The UK Gambling Commission has fined Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited £240,000 ($323,000) for breaching industry standards in its slots products.
Petfre, which operates the Betfred and Oddsking brands, was found to be in violation of licensing obligations under the 2005 Gambling Act relating to remote gambling and software technical requirements.
Regulators determined that certain slot games presented misleading features that could confuse players about their performance during sessions. Issues included visual effects that appeared to celebrate losses as wins, as well as the absence of clear displays showing players’ net positions.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement at the GC, said:
Features that impair a consumer’s ability to make informed decisions are not appropriate and pose a clear risk.
The GC noted that Petfre acted quickly to withdraw the problematic games, but emphasized that this post-incident compliance did not prevent the imposition of a financial penalty.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement at the GC, added:
This enforcement action should serve as a clear signal to the wider industry to review and strengthen their compliance practices – and to ensure that gameplay is fair and consumers are not exposed to unnecessary risk.
This is not the first time Petfre, the operator of Betfred, has faced penalties from the GC, though previous sanctions were much heavier.
In 2022, the company was fined £2.87m for multiple breaches of social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Among the shortcomings was the absence of safeguards to curb excessive rapid spending by new customers – one individual was able to lose £70,000 within just 10 hours of registering.
