Belgium Lottery fined 1.2m for abusing monopoly position
National lottery operator found to have used data acquired under monopoly status to promote sports betting product
Belgium’s National Lottery was yesterday hit with a 1.2m fine by the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) after it was judged to have “abused” its monopolistic lottery position to launch an online sports betting product.
An investigation by the BCA into the Loterie Nationale found the operator had used contact details of players it acquired through its position as lottery monopoly to promote the launch of Scooore! in January 2013.
The lottery operator was deemed to have not acquired the contact details to promote the online sportsbook in a competitive manner and was also found to have obtained commercially sensitive information of its sports betting competitors in 2011 and 2013.
Stanleybet, Sagevas, WFA and PMU all filed complaints with the BCA in May 2013, leading to an investigation being launched by the Investigation and Prosecution Service of the BCA in July 2013.
The National Lottery acknowledged its involvement and accepted the fine, which resulted in the penalty being reduced by 10%.