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Ontario’s gaming regulator issued sanctions against three online casino operators on Thursday (April 20) for offering uncertified virtual slot games on their platforms.
The three penalties issued by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) totaled C$70,000 (approximately US$52,000) after it found that three platforms were offering games that were not certified by the AGCO or by an independent testing laboratory registered with the AGCO.
The largest of the fines went to Mobile Incorporated Limited, which operates the Conquestador brand. The company was fined C$30,000 after the regulator said it provided uncertified games from two suppliers who were also not registered with the AGCO.
MGM-owned LeoVegas was fined C$25,000 for offering one uncertified game, while Bunchberry Limited, which operates the ComeOn brand, was fined C$15,000 for offering uncertified games as well.
“The AGCO holds all registered operators to high standards of responsible gambling, player protection and game integrity, and monitors their activities in the interest of Ontarians,” said AGCO CEO Tom Mungham in a statement.
“A critical feature of our regulatory framework requires operators to only offer games that are from registered gaming suppliers and have been certified by an AGCO-registered independent testing laboratory to meet the highest standards of game integrity.
“Ontarians who choose to play on registered sites need the assurance that the games being provided meet these requirements.”
The AGCO’s penalties are the regulator’s first in the area of certification and online casino content but demonstrate that the agency is actively enforcing its standards for internet gaming.
The AGCO has previously issued a series of penalties for violations of advertising standards, which include a blanket ban on bonus offers or other inducements in public-facing ads.
The regulator has also twice proposed to tighten its marketing standards since the opening of Ontario’s internet gaming market last April, including most recently through banning the use of sports players to promote betting platforms.
The three fines were announced on the same day that AGCO’s independent subsidiary, iGaming Ontario (iGO), published its quarterly revenue report for the January-March quarter.
Having already been teased at an April 4 event marking the anniversary of the Ontario market, the iGO report confirmed that the province’s 45 registered private operators generated approximately C$1.4bn in net revenue in the first full year since the market launch.
iGO’s report did not break out how much of the C$1.4bn revenue total was accounted for by online gaming versus sports betting. However, it confirmed that online slot games made up 48 percent of total online gaming revenue, with live-dealer games accounting for 32 percent and other table games 19 percent.
