UKGC Withholds Instant Win & Scratchcard Prize Data
Regulator cites excessive cost to compile detailed payout information for winnings over £50, limiting consumer transparency.
The UK Gambling Commission has declined a request for detailed data on prize payouts for online instant wins and scratchcards. Citing the excessive time and cost required to extract the information, the regulator withheld figures on winnings over £50, highlighting a gap in publicly available consumer data.
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UKGC Declines to Release Detailed Payout Data
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has withheld detailed information on prize payouts for online instant win games (IIWGs) and National Lottery scratchcards, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) response published on 14 August 2024. The regulator stated that compiling the requested data would exceed the cost and time limits permitted under UK law.
This decision means that specific data on the frequency and value of prizes over £50 remains unavailable to the public, limiting the information consumers have when choosing to play these games.
Context: A Request for Transparency
The FOI request sought to bring clarity to the 'instants' market. It asked for a breakdown of winnings paid out over £50 for both online IIWGs and physical scratchcards between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. The request also asked for the total amount wagered by customers versus the total prize money paid out for both categories during this period.
This type of data is valuable for consumers as it provides a clearer picture of the likelihood of receiving a significant prize, beyond the advertised headline odds. It helps players make more informed decisions about how and where they spend their money.
Details of the Refusal
The Gambling Commission confirmed that it holds the information but refused the request by invoking Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This section allows public authorities to decline requests where the cost of compliance would exceed £450, which is estimated to be 18 hours of staff time.
In its response, the UKGC explained the complexity of the task:
- Data Fragmentation: The information is held in daily reports across a vast and frequently updated portfolio of games.
- Manual Extraction: Retrieving the data would require staff to manually go through reports for every single game available during the one-year period.
- Time-Intensive Process: The UKGC noted that a previous, simpler request focusing on just one IIWG took three hours to complete. Fulfilling this request, which covers all instant games for a full year, would take "many multiples" of that time, far exceeding the 18-hour statutory limit.
The Commission suggested that the requester could submit a refined, narrower request—for example, focusing on a single game or a shorter time frame—which might be possible to process within the time limit.
Significance: A Gap in Public Data
The refusal highlights a significant challenge in regulatory transparency. While the UKGC collects vast quantities of data from operators, its systems are not currently configured to easily analyse or report on this level of granular detail for public consumption.
For consumers, this means that key performance indicators, such as how much money is returned to players in prizes over £50 across the entire market, remain opaque. The decision underscores the sheer scale of the instant win and scratchcard market and the operational difficulty, even for the regulator, in providing a detailed public account of its performance.