The ANJ slaps Unibet with €800,000 fine

The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s gambling watchdog, has issued a €800,000 fine to Unibet, citing irregularities in the company’s self-exclusion system and responsible gambling practices.

ANJ hits Unibet.fr with record-breaking fine

According to a recent probe into the company, self-excluded players were able to access the platform’s products, even though they have opted out of gambling. The issues with self-excluded players were reported between March 2021 and December 2022, with the regulator stating that there were multiple instances of playing not benefiting from these inherent protections.

According to the regulator, the root cause of the problem was technological, with the same issue reappearing later through February 2023. The company was not able to identify the exact number of players affected but offered an approximation, which is included in ANJ’s official ruling in the case.

The company said that the ANJ’s estimation that some 6,754 players have been affected by these technical issues was not necessarily accurate and was in fact exaggerated. For its part, SPS Betting, which is the company that operates the Unibet.fr website and brand, insisted that the numbers were anything between 4,035 and 4,888.

Unibet.fr will need to publish the fine on its official website and apps

The ANJ has concluded that the transgressions by the company were serious enough and have continued over a long enough period to mandate a tougher response from the regulator, amounting to the €800,000 fine.

Unibet.fr will also have to publish on its official website, as well as across its mobile apps, that it has faced this enforcement action. The notice would have to be only temporarily placed on the website and apps, however, between March 17 and March 31.

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