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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed a fine of £1.17m on online gambling business Bonne Terre Limited, trading as Sky Betting and Gaming, for sending promotional emails to customers who had self-excluded or opted out of receiving marketing.

On 2 November 2021, the operator distributed a Sky Vegas promotional offer of “Bet £5 get 100 free spins” to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from the operator’s marketing emails.

These actions breached licence conditions aimed at ensuring gambling in Britain is socially responsible.

Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of UKGC, said: “Self-excluded customers are likely to be suffering gambling harm and should absolutely not be sent direct marketing that could tempt them back into gambling.

“We would advise all operators to learn from Sky Betting and Gaming’s costly errors and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent the self-excluded, and those who have clearly rejected marketing, from receiving promotional material.”

Mr Rhodes added: “This latest fine would have been a lot higher had Sky Betting and Gaming allowed any of the self-excluded customers to actually gamble, failed to cooperate, and not taken decisive action aimed at preventing a repeat.”

This latest fine from the Commission follows enforcement action in recent weeks against operators 888 and BetVictor which saw financial penalties totalling £11.4m.

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