The members of the ANJ board decided in March 2024 to refer nine procedures against operators to the Sanctions Committee. They were accused of exceeding the ceiling for the player return rate (TRJ) for the year 2022.

The amended law of 12 May 2010 (art. 13-II) and the decree of 4 November 2020 (art. 27) prohibit online sports betting operators from redistributing to players more than 85% of the bets they have placed with them. This limitation is intended to prevent excessive or pathological gambling and to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In a communication dated 1 April 2021, the ANJ clarified the rules for calculating the TRJ. This calculation is carried out over the year.

In its decisions, the Sanctions Committee confirmed the existence of the excesses noted by the ANJ Board. It therefore decided to issue a warning and eight financial penalties, between 5,000 and 150,000 euros, in view of the extent of the excess of the TRJ observed, the importance of the operator in the online betting sector and/or the fact that the operator had already been subject to a penalty.

These nine decisions follow the seven decisions of 14 April 2023 which had already sanctioned several operators for exceeding the TRJ. The greater severity of the penalties imposed by these decisions demonstrates the commission’s desire to effectively enforce the objectives set out by the legislator, to the achievement of which compliance with the TRJ contributes, and to prevent any repetition of the breaches in question.

The sanctions commission decided not to attach publicity measures to these penalties.

These decisions may be appealed to the Council of State within two months of their notification.