The ACMA found the operators of Ladbrokes, Neds, bet365 and Sportsbet, breached interactive gambling rules through their use of ‘Fast/Quick Codes’ to facilitate in-play betting on sports matches. Also The ACMA has requested that Australian internet service providers (ISPs) block more illegal offshore gambling and affiliate marketing websites
The ACMA found the operators of Ladbrokes, Neds, bet365 and Sportsbet, breached interactive gambling rules through their use of ‘Fast/Quick Codes’ to facilitate in-play betting on sports matches.
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 in-play betting on sports matches is prohibited with limited exceptions, which include placing the bet over the phone. However, for the exception for phone betting to apply, information about the bet selection, bet type, bet amount and confirmation of a bet must be provided by a customer wholly via the phone call.
A Fast/Quick code is provided to a customer when they use the operators’ website or App to build an in-play wager. The Fast/Quick code embeds the event, bet selection, and bet type of a customer’s in-play wager. When the customer calls the operator to place their bet over the phone, they quote the Fast/Quick Code along with the bet amount and confirm the bet.
Ladbrokes and Neds (Entain), bet365 (Hillside) and Sportsbet (Sportsbet) in-play betting services were found to individually generate Fast/Quick Codes for each particular in-play bet when that bet was built by a customer via the service’s website or App–at least for the first customer. Under these circumstances, the ACMA found that the betting information encapsulated in the Fast/Quick Codes had been communicated to the wagering service via the website or App, rather than wholly via the phone call (as required for the phone betting exception to apply).
Following the investigations, all three operators have taken steps to ensure their use of Fast/Quick Codes complies with relevant interactive gambling rules. These steps mean that Fast/Quick Codes will be generated by the operator prior to the events commencing, independent of a customer selecting that bet. They will be generic and the same for all customers.
In view of these steps taken, the ACMA has decided not to take any further enforcement action at this time.
Please see a summary and investigation reports for this matter on the ACMA website.
https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-12/wagering-companies-breach-play-betting-rules
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13 December 2023
The ACMA has requested that Australian internet service providers (ISPs) block more illegal offshore gambling and affiliate marketing websites, after investigations found 11 services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The latest sites blocked include:
Website blocking is one of a range of enforcement options to protect Australians against illegal online gambling. Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 893 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked.
220 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.
The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, it’s unlikely to have important customer protections. This means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money. You can check if a wagering service is licensed to operate in Australia on our register.
More information about online gambling is available on the ACMA’s website, including information on how to protect yourself from illegal gambling operators and instructions on how to make a complaint about an illegal site
https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-12/acma-blocks-more-illegal-offshore-gambling-and-affiliate-marketing-websites