The UK National Lottery organizer Camelot UK has been fined £100,000 by the UK gambling commission after it was ruled Camelot had breached the terms of its license to operate the lottery.
The fine has been levied because of a miscalculation that resulted in the publication of an incorrect lottery jackpot amount in October 2013.
The mistake caused three ticket-holders to he informed they had won a larger amount of money than the true allocation.
The actual size of the jackpot was £4.8 million, but the published prize £6.2 million—a considerable difference—and had to be revised down when Camelot discovered the error.
The three jackpot winners were informed of the mistake prior to their prizes being awarded, and the Gambling Commission is confident all three winners were given the corrects amount of money, but the Commission's subsequent investigation revealed Camelot failed to ensure all its bespoke processes were 'fit for purpose'. Such an error conflicts with its license agreement.
The Commission has also ordered Camelot to submit to an independent review of its control environment performance.
Philip Graf, chairman of the Gambling Commission, said: "While this is an isolated incident, this is a serious matter, as confidence in the accurate calculation of prize monies is a critical part of maintaining public trust in the integrity of the National Lottery.
"Camelot has put measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We will continue to monitor Camelot to ensure it meets the requirements of the license and that the interests of players are protected."
