Norsk Tipping Slapped with $427K Fine in Norway

According to the Norwegian gambling regulator, the Lotteries and Foundations Authority, Norsk Tipping has failed to meet the standards set out by the Money Gambling Act.

Norsk Tipping gets fined for overpaying a player
The operator is said to have paid a player $2.25 million without sticking to due process. The player in question was playing the KongKasino game back in March when good luck struck.

However, the player must not have been paid right away nor should they had received the full amount, as there are limits on how much a player may win from an online casino game – around $9,500 based on the existing Norwegian gambling framework.

Norsk Tipping has been criticized by the regulator, with the watchdog arguing that it was a “huge” and “wrongful payment.” There was the added issue of the payment going to a person who may already be suffering from problem gambling or develop a gambling disorder as a result, a statement by the regulator read.

However, Norsk Tipping has been adamant about ensuring that it maintains a healthy gaming environment. The company recently implemented a loss limit for individuals aged 20 and under and has committed to bolstering its responsible gambling efforts.

Capping the amount that can be won from an online game is part of this ambition, although critics have insisted that it is fueling the offshore gambling market instead.

According to the watchdog, 27% of all online casino players are estimated to be in the moderate or high-risk categories of developing a problem, or already problem gamblers themselves. Norsk Tipping was able to retrieve the amount back.

However, in highlighting the case to its internal departments, Norsk Tippin has been able to find instances of other similar mistakes.

Honest mistake, but systematic issues, regulator says
Norsk Tipping has assured the regulator that it had taken a corrective course and insisted that these incidents had been isolated and honest mistakes.

However, the Lotteries and Foundations Authority has found it necessary to uphold the penalty because Norsk Tipping had shown a systematic failure to uphold core procedures, and the processes that the company used to prevent such incidents were found to be “inadequate.”

Norway remains the only country in the Scandinavian peninsula to maintain a monopoly-based model whereby a state-owned company holds exclusivity over the gambling market in the country.

Norks Tipping recently picked a new chief executive officer, Tonje Sagstuen. In the meantime, Norway has flirted with the idea of switching to a multi-license-based regime, but the issue has so far failed to garner traction.