Norsk Tipping faces NOK4.5 million fine over incorrect payout to player
In March, a casino player was incorrectly paid NOK 25 million from Norsk Tipping. The Norwegian Lottery Authority is now announcing a fee of NOK 4.5 million.
We consider the incorrect payment to be a serious breach of the Money Spelling Act, says Atle Hamar, director of the Lotteries and Foundations Authority.
It was at the beginning of March 2024 that a Kongkasino player discovered that by mistake he had been paid close to NOK 25 million from Norsk Tipping. The player notified the company, and paid back the amount. According to Norsk Tipping, the cause of the incorrect payout was an unexpected error that was difficult to predict.
Shortly after the incident was discovered at Norsk Tipping, the company notified the Norwegian Lottery Authority. After gathering the facts in the case, the Norwegian Lottery Authority is now notifying that we are considering giving Norsk Tipping a fine of NOK 4.5 million for breaking the Money Spelling Act.
This amounts to approximately 0.05 per cent of Norsk Tipping’s turnover, which was NOK 9.2 billion after deductions from premiums paid out last year.
Way above the premium limit
In order to reduce the risk of problem gambling, limits have been set for how big the prizes in cash games must be.
For Kongkasino at Norsk Tipping, it is stipulated in the gambling regulations that the prize must not be higher than NOK 100,000. In addition, a jackpot prize of up to NOK 5 million is allowed.
According to the latest population survey from the University of Bergen, 27 percent of those who play casino games at Norsk Tipping are in the categories of moderate risk or problem gamblers.
“Compared to other games, there is a relatively high probability that the wrong payment could have led to a player with a gambling problem, or risk of developing a gambling problem, having a lot of money to play for,” says Hamar.
Precisely because the error payment was so large, and that this happened in a game that has a high risk of creating gambling problems, the Norwegian Lottery Authority considers the error to be significant.
Have changed routines afterwards
The Norwegian Lottery Authority has assessed that the prize payout at Norsk Tipping’s Kongkasino was not sufficiently secure against errors when the erroneous payout occurred.
- Although the company had routines and security measures, they were not good enough to catch the wrong payment before it went out. We believe that the security measures at Norsk Tipping have failed, and we take that seriously, says Hamar.
After the incident occurred, Norsk Tipping has introduced new security measures. Now they have extra checks on all prizes from NOK 100,000 and up in Kongkasino.
- The incorrect payment could easily have been prevented by the measures the company has introduced afterwards. These should have been introduced earlier, says Hamar.
Norsk Tipping has been given a deadline to comment on the notice before 12 August. The Norwegian Lottery Authority will then assess whether changes are made or whether the decision is adopted as a notification.