PT Entertainment Services (PTES), a subsidiary of Playtech, has been shut down following revelations it ignored responsible gambling safeguards in its dealings with a customer who later committed suicide. PTES did not confirm the customer’s occupation or income, and offered him VIP perks after he had lost more than £30,000.
According to the U.K. Independent, the Gambling Commission launched an investigation into the company after being contacted by the family of the 25-year-old customer, who his life in April 2017 after losing the money through two websites, winner.co.uk and titanbet.co.uk.
The regulator found that PTES failed to carry out any “responsible gambling” interactions with the customer, despite being aware that several of his debit card transactions had been declined, and gave him VIP status without verifying he could afford to spend to play at a VIP level.
In December 2016, the report found, an internal email was sent stating that the customer had lost £22,000 and that PTES did not know his occupation.
The commission said PTES gave “no consideration” to problem gambling checks and instead emailed him an invite to take part in a promotion to win more than £3.7 million.
It also found that he lost £119,395 between April 1 and 5 2017, with PTES failing to verify whether he could afford to play, the commission said.
PTES could have faced a fine of at least £3.5 million, but was not required to pay as the company surrendered its operating license during the investigation, the commission added.
However, Playtech, its parent company, pledged to donate £5 million to mental health and gambling-related harm charities over the next five years as part of its strategy to promote better online health.
PTES also donated £619,395 to charity.
In a statement, Playtech said the decision to close its Titan and Winner brands was taken before it was notified of the investigation, while PTES’s license was already due to expire in October 2019.
Commission CEO Neil McArthur said: “This is a tragic case which came to light after I was contacted by the family of the young man who very sadly took his own life. Although PTES has ceased trading we decided to complete our investigation and publish our findings, as the lessons from this tragic case must be learned by all operators.
“Our investigations into the role played by key individuals at PTES are continuing. As such, it would be inappropriate to say more about the specific case at this time.”
McArthur said the case highlights why the management of so-called high value customers “has to change. Operators must do everything in their power to interact with customers responsibly.
“We will shortly be opening a consultation to make permanent changes to the way operators recruit and incentivize high value customers.”
A Playtech spokesman said, “Regarding the Gambling Commission’s investigation, we take full responsibility for the regulatory breaches identified, and PT Entertainment Services’ actions fell significantly short of the high standards we set ourselves as a group. The failings occurred in a business that is now closed.”
The spokesman said the company had since “invested significantly” to ensure such breaches do not occur again.
