Merkur Slots has been ordered to pay a fine of nearly £100,000 for failing to meet social responsibility standards at one of its game centers in the UK.
The £95,450 (about $119,258) fine resulted from an investigation by the UK Gambling Commission after a customer in Manchester lost £1,981 (approximately $2,476) in only three days.
The UK Gambling Commission believes that the operator of Merkur Slots “failed to interact with the customer” as they gambled for almost five hours on November 1, 2023. A similar failure was also found with the same player gambling for nearly 12 hours on November 3, 2023.
These social responsibility failures breached the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), of which land-based locations must “interact with customers in a way that minimises the risk of customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.”
Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes said: “This was a clear-cut case of an operator failing to follow rules aimed at keeping consumers safe from harm”.
He added: “In recent years there have been a number of cases of online gambling businesses failing to meet their social responsibility obligations – but this investigation shows that land-based operators also need to make sure they are minimising the risk to customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.”
“All operators should make sure that not only do they have policies and procedures aimed at preventing harm in place, but also that staff are effectively trained to follow and implement them.”
The Gambling Commission recently confirmed that Stake would cease operations in the UK after adult content was found linked to the branding. As a result, the commission has written to Everton, a premiere league soccer team, advising to change its front-of-shirt sponsorship. The Merkur Slots fine happened just hours after this decision was made.
Also in the news, a new Google gambling advertising policy targets loopholes.
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