It comes after the operator was found to have accepted 37 illegal online in-play bets on a US college basketball game. A complaint led to an investigation from ACMA, which found the company accepted 37 illegal bets on 3 January 2021.
Online in-play betting is prohibited in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. It is the first time the ACMA has taken action against an operator for a breach of such rules.
“We know that in-play betting, such as bets on the next point in a tennis match or the next ball in cricket, can pose a very high risk to problem gamblers,” said ACMA Member Fiona Cameron.
”These rules have been in place for many years and Tabcorp has had more than enough time to put systems in place to ensure that in-play betting is not offered on local or international sports.”
The operator responded by arguing it had failed to close betting in time due to incorrect match information from a third-party provider, followed by its own technical error. After realising the mistake, Tabcorp paid out winning bets and refunded losing bets, with one refunded only after the ACMA commenced its investigation.
“The ACMA considered that the paying out of winning bets by Tabcorp was inappropriate and that all illegal bets should have been voided so that neither operators or punters benefit from prohibited activity,” added Cameron.
“The industry is now on notice that it must have robust systems in place to prevent in-play bets and that the ACMA will investigate evidence of non-compliance with these important consumer safeguards.
“If we find breaches of the rules caused by genuine mistakes, in any enforcement response we will take into account whether an operator has voided rather than paid out illegal winning bets.”
