The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a formal warning to Tabcorp after the operator accepted online in-play bets on a US college basketball game.
The ACMA launched an investigation into Tabcorp after receiving a complaint, and found that the operator had taken 37 in-play bets during the game on 3 January this year.
Online in-play betting on an event during play is prohibited in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and, as such, ACMA ruled Tabcorp broke the law.
In response, Tabcorp said that it failed to close betting in time for the game due to incorrect match information from a third-party provider, while it also admitted to a technical error from within Tabcorp.
Upon realising the mistake, Tabcorp said it paid out winning bets and refunded losing bets, though one was only refunded after the ACMA commenced its investigation.
ACMA considered Tabcorp’s actions to deal with the illegal bets as well as its commitment to improve its system..