Norsk Tipping Faces $4.41M Fine for Lottery Draw Errors

Norsk Tipping, Norway’s gambling monopoly, is facing a huge fine for incorrectly handling lottery draws. As it turns out, the company had, for years, operated draws in a way that favored syndicates and clubs.

Norsk Tipping Has Been Mishandling Draws for Years

Recent investigation shows that Norsk Tipping’s lottery draw-related errors have been a consistent part of its operation since at least 2021. Authorities suggested that the errors might have been going on for even longer than that.

Due to the way in which Norsk Tipping handled extra Lotto and Europjackpot draws, tickets from gaming syndicates, clubs or co-operative banks had a greater chance to win. As a result, millions of players have been affected.

According to reports, Norsk Tipping identified this shortcoming in 2024 but did not investigate it further. Instead, it informed the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority of the error and, in the meantime, continued carrying out two additional lottery draws.

Atle Hamar, director of Norway’s Lottery and Foundations Authority emphasized that Norsk Tipping’s errors mean that for years, all draws have been erroneous, resulting in wrong winners. Hamar acknowledged Norsk Tipping’s broader safer gambling efforts but added that the draw-related error is a very serious matter and a major legal violation.

Hamar emphasized that Norsk Tipping must strengthen its control over the games it offers.

Norsk Tipping Faces $4.4M Fine

Because of its violation, Norsk Tipping risks a penalty of up to NOK 46 million ($4.41 million). This fine would represent approximately 0.45% of its turnover. The Norwegian gaming monopoly has three weeks to defend its case before the regulator makes its final decision.

If the fine is approved, it would be Norsk Tipping’s second penalty for 2025. In February this year, Norsk Tipping was fined over a self-exclusion failure. According to the country’s regulator, a technical mistake had prevented iOS players from excluding themselves from gambling, which is considered to be a major offense.

The incident dates to January 16, 2024, when Norsk Tipping’s iOS gaming app experienced a technical failure that prevented players from excluding themselves from playing. This issue persisted for several months. Because of that, the operator was fined NOK 36 million ($3.4 million).

In 2024, on the other hand, Norsk Tipping was fined NOK 4.5 million ($430K) for a payment error involving the KongKasino game. For context, Norsk Tipping erroneously paid out NOK 25 million from the game.