Ireland's National Lottery regulator released its annual report for 2021 on Wednesday. According to the document, Lottery operator Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) breached the terms of its license once in 2021 by contacting a group of players who had excluded themselves from its games.
The issue was first identified by the operator itself. According to the report, the breach occurred as a result of a time lag in the operator’s systems that meant marketing communications were sent in error to 48 players who had self-excluded themselves from playing National Lottery games up to 36 hours earlier.
In detailing the matter, the regulator said it had confirmed that none of the 48 players was able to play games during the period of self-exclusion as the suspension of play had taken immediate effect. PLI subsequently introduced measures to ensure the cessation of marketing messages following self-exclusion would take effect in real time.
While the regulator deemed that Premier Lotteries had breached its license by allowing the communications to take place, it considered that since the company had moved to correct the issue and had gained no benefit from what had happened that no further action was necessary, as reported by The Irish Times.
Regulator Carol Boate said it was a key goal to ensure that players of National Lottery games experienced "informed consumer interactions" that minimize the risk of harm from problem playing and underage playing. Additional measures to prevent problem gambling and underage play were introduced last year to bolster measures already in place.
Boate further said proactive reviews conducted by her office in 2021 yielded confirmation that the operator was taking the appropriate steps to prevent cyberattacks and that published game rules for online instant-win games correctly match the approved rules. She further confirmed that mandatory online identity verification, introduced for newly registered accounts on December 6 last year, is being applied to previously registered accounts on a phased basis.
In the latest report, and following the issue with the private operator, the regulator called for the odds of winning a prize in the lottery’s games to be included in the games themselves after complaints were received from players. According to the regulator, due to probability and randomness being “difficult concepts to understand”, it made sense to include the odds of winning "in players' interests", as reported by the Irish Examiner.
At present the lottery's website gives the odds of victory for every game on their individual webpage, while mobile apps are being upgraded and individual scratch cards will likewise be updated as new versions are printed, the regulator said.
"I am confident that the oversight, monitoring, and enforcement carried out in 2021 will further protect and safeguard players, and the propriety of the National Lottery. This remains my paramount focus in the period ahead," Boate stated.
As previously published in PLI’s accounts for 2021, ticket sales for National Lottery games surpassed €1 billion ($978.5 million) in 2021, rising 14.7% to €1.053 billion ($1.03 billion), with both online sales and retail sales growth.
The regulator confirmed that a record €289.7 million ($283.4 million) was transferred to the exchequer for good causes in 2021, up 14% from the 2020 figure. Some of the change was attributable to sales generated by the capped €19.1 million ($18.6 million) Lotto jackpot that continued to roll over for an unprecedented number of draws. The rules were then changed to ensure a "will be won draw" will take place if the jackpot is not won five draws after it reaches the cap.
PLI is owned by a consortium that comprises An Post, its pension fund, and Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. It was awarded a 20-year license to operate the National Lottery in 2014.
https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/10/21/64716-ireland-national-lottery-operator-breached-license-terms-in-2021-due-to-system-glitch