Daily Play tickets

Background

Camelot introduced a new gaming system on 1 February 2009. In preparation for this a series of data transfers were undertaken during a period when both the old and new systems were running simultaneously. The transfer of historic data was to allow for a period of testing and monitoring prior to switching to the new system, and for the subsequent operation of the new system from 1 February 2009. The data included information needed for prize validation purposes.

Condition

Condition 7.43(a) and (b) of the Third Licence to operate the National Lottery, granted under section 5 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 (as amended) requires that players are able to find out whether they have won a prize and that prizes are paid to those people who have claimed them.

Description

A prize of a free Daily Play Luck Dip ticket is awarded to those players who fail to match one of the Daily Play numbers drawn (Match 0). As a result of a data conversion error some Daily Play Match 0 prizes were not recognised, these were for tickets purchased at retail before 1 February 2009 but validated after that date. In the case of 32 tickets the gaming system recognised only one Daily Play Match 0 prize when more than one of these prizes could be attributed to a ticket. In total 37 free Daily Play prizes were not provided when the tickets were validated.

Regulatory action

The Commission has considered Camelot’s explanation that the error was unique, arose during the significant and complex data conversion necessary to enter the Third Licence and was rectified effectively within 6 days. However, the Commission has concluded that because some players may have been unable to find out if they had won Daily Play Match 0 prizes and some players did not receive the prizes they had claimed, the  circumstances amount to a breach of Condition 7.43 (a) and (b). The licence breach was recorded on 6 November 2009

Outcome

Camelot implemented a software fix on 8 February 2009 and this resolved the issue. It has not been possible for Camelot to identify those individuals who did not receive the correct number of free Daily Play tickets for multiple Match 0 winning lines.