UKGC issues Camelot a £1.15 million penalty package

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited has accepted a £1.15 million penalty package for various shortcomings, including with the firm’s mobile app and the publishing of an incomplete list of raffle prizes following a Lotto draw.

The Gambling Commission has ruled that as part of the company’s sanctioning, the sum of  £1.15 million will be distributed to National Lottery good causes.

The ruling comes after an extensive 18-month investigation by the UKGC, in which it set out to ensure that the UK lottery operator had necessary measures to ensure that it significantly improved its levels of compliance.

Richard Watson, Gambling Commission Executive Director, stated: “Camelot has taken a number of steps to rectify the issues and given us assurances that they now have the right processes in place to prevent re-occurrences. It is crucial that the National Lottery is run fairly, safely and with integrity and we’ll continue to hold Camelot to account.”

Since the investigation, Camelot has implemented a programme of activity called the ‘Operational Excellence Programme’ (OEP), while the Commission instructed Camelot to conduct a Board Effectiveness Review (BER).

A Camelot spokeswoman emphasised: “We accept the outcome of the Gambling Commission’s investigation in respect of a number of incidents dating back to 2016.

“As part of the regulatory settlement, we have accepted the historical licence breaches identified, provided voluntary undertakings and will make a payment to National Lottery Good Causes in lieu of a financial penalty.

“While we have always sought to run The National Lottery to the highest possible standards, we accept that, at the time of these incidents, our standards in certain areas weren’t as rigorous as they should have been and for that we’re sorry.

“We’ve since proactively carried out an extensive programme of work to strengthen our controls, processes and governance arrangements to ensure they are all fit for purpose – and welcome the Commission’s recognition of the work we’ve carried out to mitigate the risk of future issues.”