Unibet Casino fined for violating rules in Ontario
In Canada, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has fined Unibet, a brand owned and operated by Kindred Group, C$48,000 (the equivalent of €37,192) for violating regulations on advertising and other bonus incentives. According to the AGCO, between May 19 and 22 of this year, Unibet Casino posted and broadcast numerous illegal promotional messages, which featured “generous welcome offers.
In Ontario, Unibet Casino penalized by regulator for violating rules
The AGCO’s Internet gambling rules prohibit the use of large-scale advertising. Thus, not all messages or announcements promoting bonuses are tolerated; in fact, these are limited to the sites of licensed operators (which is the case of Unibet Casino) as well as to so-called “direct” advertisements, i.e. those that can only be issued after obtaining the player’s consent.
Or, Unibet Casino for a short period of time used marketing methods that are simply prohibited in Ontario. As a result, the local regulator has taken up the case and ruled that Kindred Group has broken the rules: the iGaming company must pay 48,000 Canadianalthough the company has the option of appealing this decision to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, an independent adjudicative tribunal of the AGCO attached to the Ontario General Courts.
” We expect all registered operators to achieve and maintain high standards of responsible gaming, player protection and gaming integrity We expect all registered operators to achieve and maintain high standards of responsible gaming, player protection and gaming integrity,” said Tom Mungham, AGCO’s Chief Executive Officer and Public Custodian of Records. He concluded, ” The AGCO will continue to monitor the activities of online gaming sites to ensure that they are complying with their obligations under the Ontario Gaming Control Act. “.
Unibet sanctioned by AGCO five months after obtaining license
Unibet was one of the very first operators to inherit a license following the opening of the Ontario market to competition. But while recently five industry bodies have called for a crackdown on illegal operators, Unibet Casino’s recent penalty shows that even licensed companies are far from blameless…
Let’s remember that Unibet already has seven licenses in North AmericaThe company is mainly established in American federal states with a policy favorable to online gambling. In Canada, for the moment, only Ontario has regulated its online gaming market. The latter is managed by iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
