Suspected freebies lead to 350,000-pound fine for GVC
GVC Holdings has been fined £350,000 for breaking advertising guidelines. One of their subsidiaries, ElectraWorks, deceptively advertised "free bonuses" on several casino sites. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) found this misleading.
In April 2016, there was a customer complaint about an ad banner on the bwin.com website. This banner promised up to £30 in bonus money if £10 was deposited. But, as it turned out, there were hidden conditions. To receive the full £30, the deposit and bonus had to be wagered 1.5 times. So for a deposit of £10, a total of £30 (£10 + £10 bonus x 1.5) had to be wagered. The same rule applied to the second half of the bonus. £60 had to be wagered to unlock the £10 bonus, which meant it could be withdrawn or played. The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) deemed this unfair - they demanded the ad's removal and a promise not to use it again.
ElectraWorks disputed the ASA's decision. They argued that the ad text had an asterisk, leading to the conditions being visible on the same page. However, the ASA ultimately insisted that the restrictions should have been more noticeable. The ad suggested immediate receipt and use of the bonus money, which was considered misleading. The full terms and conditions should have been in the ad itself.
Failure to improve after warnings
ElectraWorks initially complied with the ASA's demands and removed the ad. But the company soon repeated the mistake. A few days later, an equally misleading ad appeared on another website owned by ElectraWorks. In April 2017, the UK Gambling Commission became involved and found similar violations on casinoking.com, casinolasvegas.com, noblecasino.com, partycasino.com, and scasino.com. These infringements did not stop and were found again in June and August. Because of ElectraWorks' stubborn refusal to comply, the Commission imposed a fine. Additionally, the person responsible for marketing at ElectraWorks didn't have the necessary license.
Richard Watson of the UKGC said in a statement: "This fine should serve as a warning to all gambling companies. We will not hesitate to take action against companies that deceive their customers with bonus offers or are not adequately licensed."
GVC Holdings, ElectraWorks' parent company, initially responded by saying they understood the importance of following advertising standards and rectifying the licensing issue. However, their statement didn't explain in detail how they'd prevent further violations. This motto - "self-critical attitude" - could suggest that effective advertising was more important than complying with the regulations. Since hidden conditions in promotions are commonplace in the gambling industry, it's possible that other providers will be found guilty of similar offenses if the UKGC conducts more investigations.
On a positive note, ElectraWorks' actual offer to make the bonus accessible after six times wagering the bonus and deposit is relatively favorable. Compared to other bonuses that have far more challenging wagering requirements, this could be seen as a relatively customer-friendly move. However, without clear enforcement of the rules, it's hard to know if this was just bad luck or if ElectraWorks was targeted for closer scrutiny. Consumer protection should always come first, so let's hope the entire industry learns from this warning and becomes more transparent in their advertising in the future.
[^1]: Original text: https://www.egamingreview.com/industry-specific/regulation/gvc-fined-350k-for-misleading-bonus-ads-across-multiple-sites/
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
