SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Ladbrokes Australia will no longer run its ‘QuickCall’ feature as pressure mounts on UK operators to withdraw in-play betting services following ongoing investigations from the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) and the Federal Police into breaches of gambling laws.
Ladbrokes Australia, one of the three UK bookmakers (along with William Hill and bet365) to offer the controversial service has withdrawn the feature from its digital inventory. At present the bookmaker has made no public comment on its actions.
The ACMA announced to the bookmakers that Australian broadcasters and media networks would no longer run advertising for the ‘call’ features.
Initially launched in April of this year by William Hill and Ladbrokes Australia, the feature has caused controversy mirroring live betting functions by allowing customers to connect to live market teams through their devices microphone.
UK bookmakers have stated that the mechanism falls within the 2001 Gambling Act provisions, as the wagers are only processed by the live market teams if the customer approves his selection.
The ACMA issued a response by posing new guidelines on its website stating that the call features “do not appear to involve the service provider dealing with customers using a standard telephone service” as required by the act”.
This July the ACMA referred its investigation to the Federal Police stating that the feature breached national laws which were in the domain of the police force, which the communications agency could therefore not advise on.
