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The UK Gambling Commission has issued a £490,000 financial penalty for Flutter-owned Paddy Power and Betfair after it sent promotional push notifications to devices linked to customers who had self-excluded.

PPB Counterparty Services Limited, the licensee, notified the Gambling Commission on November 26, 2021 that on November 21, 2021, "as a result of human error, a push notification was inadvertently sent to Apple devices linked to accounts of customers that had self-excluded from the Licensee", according to the regulator’s .

An investigation by the regulator followed the alert.

It revealed that the licensee failed to comply with the social responsibility code provision that requires licensees to “take all reasonable steps to prevent any marketing material being sent to a self-excluded customer and to take steps to remove the name and details of a self-excluded individual from any marketing databases within two days of receiving the completed self-exclusion notification".

Kay Roberts, Gambling Commission executive director of operations, explained: “Although there is no evidence the marketing was intentional, nor that all the people with apps saw the notification or that self-excluded customers were allowed to gamble, we take such breaches seriously.

“We would advise all operators to learn from the operator’s failures and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent self-excluded customers from being sent promotional material.”

The CEO of Flutter UK and Ireland, Ian Brown, said the company’s ambition is to “lead the industry in safer gambling and apologise for this mistake.”

“We continue to work closely with the Gambling Commission in all areas and we are committed to operating at the highest possible levels of responsibility,” Brown added.

Paddy Power and Betfair accepted the Gambling Commission’s conclusion but appealed against the initial fine.

An agreement was then reached to end the appeal and a substitute financial penalty of £490,000 was agreed.

Paddy Power and Betfair also agreed to instruct an independent third party to undertake an audit of its marketing communication processes and procedures, at its own expense.

No complaints from customers involved were received by the operator regarding the marketing.

The regulator also acknowledged that the licensee “proactively notified the Commission of the incident promptly after it occurred, took immediate remedial action, and co-operated fully with the Commission throughout its investigation”.

The decision to fine the operator was made on May 9, 2023 and the final penalty information was published on May 25.