Rikstoto under fire for 23,000+ unpaid bets error

A critical system failure at Norway’s state-controlled operator Norsk Rikstoto enabled thousands of users to place bets without paying, exposing the company to potentially multi-million losses.

A total of 5,158 players submitted 23,716 unpaid bets between February 3rd and 5th. All of these bets were still included in pools for larger Norwegian racetracks (like V75) and Swedish racetracks (like V86). Although they weren’t charged, they were still able to compete as if they had been charged for the wager.

Initial estimates of €100,000 to €200,000 (NOK 1.2 million to NOK 2.4 million) in losses; this could potentially be increased based on payout dynamics and how winnings are recycled.

The Norwegian Gaming Authority states that there may have been violations of Norwegian Gambling Laws since the laws state all bets must have been made using real money and there cannot be any free bets or credit betting. Even after these laws were broken, the unpaid bets were still processed and they still qualified for a payout.

Norsk Rikstoto opted to not charge their customers for unpaid bets, stating that it may have resulted in players exceeding their responsible gambling limit.

On March 25th, there was another incident as the same issue occurred with unpaid bets; however, the Gambling Authority is said to have only been informed of this incident on April 15th (missing the required 72 hour notice time frame for severe disruptions).

These issues arose after a system upgrade to the gaming systems from the company Betmakers, which seems to have caused ongoing technical issues with their system.

For Norsk Rikstoto, resolving the technical issues is only part of the challenge restoring trust in the integrity of its platform is now equally critical.

TNG – Latest News & Reviews