Betfred operator fined $323,428 by UKGC over non-compliant slot features

The UK Gambling Commission has imposed a £240,000 ($323,428) fine on Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, the company behind the Betfred and Oddsking.com brands, for operating online slot games that breached mandatory technical requirements designed to protect players.

The regulator found that several games hosted by Petfre failed to comply with the Remote Technical Standards (RTS), including a failure to display a player’s net position during gameplay and the use of celebratory effects when players suffered net losses. These features, the Commission said, risked misleading users about their actual betting outcomes.

The standards explicitly prohibit games from celebrating returns that are equal to or less than the original stake, as doing so could distort a player’s perception of their performance. The Commission stressed that features which impair a user’s ability to understand their position “posed a clear risk.”

“While we acknowledge the operator acted swiftly to remove the affected games, 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,” said John Pierce, Director of Enforcement at the Gambling Commission.

Petfre removed the non-compliant games promptly after being notified, but the Commission opted to issue a financial penalty, citing the seriousness of the violations.

The enforcement action stems from wider reforms introduced by the regulator in early 2021, when a ban was placed on several features of online slot games, including autoplay, spin speeds of less than 2.5 seconds, and visual effects that celebrated losses as if they were wins. At the time, then-CEO Neil McArthur noted that these features increased the risk of gambling-related harm.

This is not the first time Petfre has faced regulatory action. In September 2022, the operator was fined £2.9 million ($3.92 million) for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The latest penalty adds to a string of recent enforcement measures by the Gambling Commission. In September, Maple International Ventures, operator of Lottomart.com, was ordered to pay £360,000 ($486,420) for failings in similar areas. In August, ProgressPlay, a Cyprus-based operator behind over 130 gambling sites, was fined £1 million ($1.35 million) for breaches involving player protection and financial controls.

The Commission said the penalties reflect its ongoing commitment to ensuring gambling companies adhere strictly to rules that safeguard consumer well-being and promote transparency in gameplay.