Bookmakers in Poland are facing a fresh wave of social responsibility assessments by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protections (UOKiK).
Announced by the government, the assessments will affect local market players STS, Fortuna, Superbet, Bukmachers, E-toto Bukmachers, LV Bet and Totalbets.
SBC News understands that these are routine checks, and not a response to signals raised about potential breaches of obligations.
What the UOKiK will focus on is investigating whether there are cases of what it calls ‘dark patterns’ – practices used to manipulate consumer behaviour through front-facing UX, certain messaging or player incentives.
The assessments will cover all corners of bookmaker activity from websites to mobile apps, including the terms and conditions when entering an agreement with a customer.
Any shortcomings will be flagged by UOKiK’s system, which incorporates artificial intelligence that is trained to detect relevant issues.
Another major aspect that will be put to the test is the player safety mechanism incorporated by bookmakers, specifically how easy it is for players to distance themselves from gambling on their platforms if they choose to do so – either through account closure or temporary suspension, among others.
Tomasz Chróstny, UOKiK President, said: “Mutual betting is a legal form of entertainment, but the gambling market has been covered by the legislator with special regulations. Their goal is to counteract addiction, the consequences of which can affect not only personal finances, but also family life and consumer health.
“Entrepreneurs operating in this market should be expected not to use practices that may increase the risk of compulsive and destructive behaviour, and will also provide mechanisms to stop the game.”
The last major focus of interest for the UOKiK is how well balanced are the rights between customers and betting platforms, and whether the latter has established clear rules as to under what conditions they reserve the rights to cancel deposits, stop people from betting, block accounts or dispute winnings – in addition to whether these rights are fair.
If a company is found to have failed on any of these listed parameters, UOKiK has the power to impose a financial penalty of up to 10% of that company’s annual turnover.