Victoria's Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) recently fined online gambling company QuestBet 80,000 Australian dollars (approximately 52,000 US dollars) for failing to effectively identify and intervene with a customer showing signs of gambling harm, leading to their continued significant financial losses.
VGCCC pointed out that QuestBet failed to fulfill its legal duty to reduce gambling harm, ignoring multiple risk warnings raised by the customer, seriously violating the responsible gambling code of conduct of the Victoria Gambling Association.
Investigations showed that from April to June 2023, the customer contacted QuestBet at least 20 times, frequently requesting additional points and bonus bets. During this period, the customer explicitly mentioned significant losses six times, but QuestBet still approved the bonus bet requests five times without taking any effective measures to prevent further gambling, ultimately leading to the customer losing about 15,000 Australian dollars in two months.
VGCCC Chief Executive Suzy Neilan expressed concern about this incident, indicating that it exposed an irresponsible corporate culture within QuestBet. She emphasized that gambling companies have a legal and moral responsibility to protect customer welfare and must promptly identify and intervene in customer behaviors that may lead to gambling harm.
Furthermore, the regulatory body found that QuestBet failed to provide basic harm minimization tools such as spending limits, breaks, self-exclusion, or referral support services, and still did not respond formally after multiple requests for explanation, even lacking proactive communication after being granted extensions.
Ms. Neilan stressed that this fine is not only a punishment for QuestBet but also a stern warning to all licensed gambling operators: ignoring customer gambling risk signs and lacking necessary protective mechanisms is absolutely unacceptable, and operators must establish comprehensive systems to ensure customer safety and prevent gambling harm.
