Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, the operator behind Betfred.com, has been ordered to pay £900,000 following a series of serious social responsibility failings identified by the UK Gambling Commission.
The Commission launched its investigation after a compliance assessment flagged significant problems with the operator’s internal policies and procedures for protecting customers.
Among the most prominent findings was that Petfre did not have sufficient processes in place to identify key indicators of gambling harm across its platform.
The regulator also found that the operator failed to ensure immediate and automated action was taken when customers displayed signs of harm, leaving vulnerable users without timely support.
One of the most notable procedural failures involved a seven-day delay before a safer gambling review would take place after a customer’s account had already been flagged for concern.
In a striking example of the real-world consequences, one customer received a safer gambling interaction after exceeding a deposit trigger, but staff decided no further action was necessary.
That same customer then deposited and lost a further £17,900 over the following 24 hours without any additional intervention from the operator.
As a direct result of these failings, the Commission ordered Petfre to make a £900,000 payment in lieu of a formal financial penalty, with the operator also agreeing to cover the cost of the investigation.
John Pierce, director of enforcement at the Commission, said: “Failure to implement an effective monitoring framework to identify and contact consumers at risk of harm at pace has resulted in a significant regulatory settlement.”
Pierce added: “We expect all operators to learn from this case and read the public statement to ensure they do not make the same mistakes.”
The Commission acknowledged that Petfre acted quickly once the issues were identified, putting in place an action plan and providing the regulator with regular updates on its progress.
Despite that positive response, the Commission noted that Petfre had previously faced regulatory action, including a £2.87m financial penalty in September 2022 for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings.
The operator also received a £240,000 fine over slot game breaches last year, making this latest settlement a third significant regulatory intervention in a relatively short period.
Pierce said: “While the gaps we identified were unacceptable, the licensee acted swiftly to implement interim mitigating controls to address our immediate concerns.”
He continued: “They have since delivered an appropriate action plan and taken significant steps to assure the Commission that their current operating model meets our requirements.”
Petfre is the second operator to face a financial penalty order in quick succession, following the Commission’s recent instruction for Stakelogic to pay £122,835 for running online slot games too fast.
The cases together signal that the UK Gambling Commission continues to take an assertive approach to enforcing safer gambling and technical compliance standards across the industry.
