Dabble Sports faces more than €600K in BetStop penalties

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that Dabble Sports was guilty of committing 54 infractions regarding rules that govern the regulation of BetStop self-exclusions. The regulator reported that Dabble Sports neglected the closure of 157 gambling accounts in instances when the users had registered for exclusion in BetStop, which, in turn, resulted in the company communicating marketing messages to clients, who were supposed to be excluded. Moreover, ACMA also discovered that Dabble sent 839 electronic messages to 165 BetStop clients, as well as sent over 2000 messages to four people without information on BetStop. The penalties imposed on Dabble include those that were placed in two notices. The company received 9 penalties that added up to €107,000 (AU$178,000) for not closing the accounts of excluding users. The remaining 45 penalties account for the amount of around €535,000 (AU$891,000) that concerned the sending of electronic messages to clients listed on BetStop. Total of over €600,000 (AU$1.0 million) is accounted for. ACMA reported that 156 out of 229 accounts without pending bets were identified to belong to BetStop clients seven days after the registration of the users. In addition to this, some accounts were not identified for up to 200 days. Inactive accounts indicate compliance deficiencies The regulator had previously raised concerns with Dabble about inactive-account checks in August 2024 and said checking such accounts at least every seven days was reasonably practicable. ACMA also identified weaknesses in Dabble’s marketing controls, including the ability for manual intervention to override automated suppression measures. Carolyn Lidgerwood, ACMA member, said: People who register with BetStop have made a clear decision to exclude themselves from online wagering. Providers must respect that decision by closing their accounts promptly and ensuring they are not targeted with gambling promotions. These were serious breaches by Dabble. Wagering providers must have robust systems in place to protect people who have chosen to self-exclude. BetStop is an important consumer protection measure, but it only works if wagering companies follow the rules. The ACMA will take action where wagering providers fail to meet their obligations. Double agrees to independent compliance review As a result of penalties, Dabble has signed with ACMA enforceable undertakings and has accepted to get its BetStop compliance systems and processes audited. The auditor will first review Dabble’s processes for closing player accounts, its marketing programs, and thus its overall compliance with BetStop requirements. After that, the independent expert will submit recommendations to Dabble and ACMA. Then, based on the auditor’s recommendations, Dabble will also formulate a plan for the implementation of the recommendations approved by its board and will assign needed compliance staff to implement the improvements.