Norsk Tipping is facing yet another fine from the Norwegian Lottery Authority (Lotteritsilsynet) following a serious error during its Lotto draw game in April.

The error stemmed from a technical failure at Norsk Tipping that deleted players who had played the Lotto game through lottery syndicates between 21 December 2024 and 4 January 2025. These players were then excluded from the Super Draw held over Easter on 19 April.

This affected 16,698 players, equivalent to 0.2 per cent of the total entries, and led to 52 incorrect winners being drawn.

“Trust that the draw and the basis for the draw will be correct is absolutely fundamental for a lottery,” said Norwegian Lottery Authority director Tore Bell. “Therefore, it is very serious when this has not been in place.”

Norsk Tipping notified the regulator of the error in June and initiated an investigation to find the root cause of the error, as well as conduct troubleshooting of previous draws.

At the end of August, the operator sent the Authority a final security report on the error, noting that the error could have been present in seven Super Draws between 2016 and 2021, as well as three further Super Draws from 2022 up until this year.

Norsk Tipping said that the error had been corrected and that it had taken measures to ensure better control of the draw going forward, with players who were incorrectly excluded from the draw receiving a refund.

“This is gross negligence,” said Bell. “Norsk Tipping did not check that all entrants were included in the draw, even though they had knowledge at the time that there had been serious errors in the draw basis over a long period of time.”

The Norwegian Lottery Authority considered stopping the April draw due to suspicions that there might be errors that affected the draw, but was assured by Norsk Tipping that the draw would proceed correctly.

“We can stop a lottery that is not being carried out correctly,” continued Bell. “We considered that in this case, but we received repeated guarantees that the draw would proceed correctly. It is unacceptable that there were still errors in the draw.”

A few days after the draw, Norsk Tipping submitted a preliminary security report stating that the draw was carried out correctly, with the correct chances of winning. This turned out to be wrong.

“It is reprehensible that Norsk Tipping could establish that the Super Draw was carried out correctly despite not checking that everyone who had bought tickets was allowed to participate in the draw,” said Bell. “This is likely to weaken trust in the company.”

The regulator said that it is taking the matter very seriously and has announced a fine of up to NOK25 million for Norsk Tipping.

The operator has three weeks to comment before the Norwegian Lottery Authority makes a final decision on the case.

The Authority has already issued three fines to Norsk Tipping for violations of the country’s Gambling Act in the past year. This includes a NOK2.5 million fine for an incorrect payment of NOK25 million; a NOK36 million fine for violation of the requirement that players to be able to self-exclude from gambling; and a NOK46 million fine for serious drawing errors in Eurojackpot extra draws and Lotto Super Draws over several years.

In addition, the regulator is considering issuing a fine of up to NOK10 million for the error that occurred in connection with the Eurojackpot draw on 27 June.

“All these cases make it crucial that Norsk Tipping tightens its routines, controls and the quality of what it does,” concluded Bell. “That is why we have announced a major inspection this Autumn where we will look at Lotto, Eurojackpot and Vikinglotto.”