The operator of the National Lottery, Premier Lotteries Ireland, has been found in breach of its licence after a piece of software gave potentially wrong results to players while the winning results were still being verified, the regulator has found.
In its annual report for 2023, the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) said that the breach occurred between September and October 2022.
“A third-party software release resulted in a number of players accessing the Check My Numbers facility on the National Lottery website at a time when it should not have been available, as draw results were still being verified,” the regulator said.
“As a result, some players received a ‘Ticket Not a Winner’ message when, in fact, the numbers they had entered were winning numbers in the draw that had just taken place and was still being verified.”
This technical issue may have contributed to up to 394 prizes going unclaimed, although there was no noticeable increase in the rate of unclaimed prizes during this period.
The total value of the unclaimed prizes that might not have been claimed due to this incident was at most €2,299. There was one €250 prize with all other prizes ranging from to €2 to €24.
The incident was limited to the website with the National Lottery app and in-store ticket validations machines working as normal.
As a result of this breach, the ORNL withheld €23,000 from Premier Lotteries with this money being sent to the Exchequer to fund good causes.
The ORNL said that Premier Lotteries self-reported the incident and did not profit from the error. It permanently fixed the issue, and returned the €2,299 unclaimed prizes potentially affected to players as prizes in other National Lottery games as directed.
Independently, the ORNL commissioned an independent assessment by IT experts at Grant Thornton who raised no concerns following the review.
Premier Lotteries recently decided to phase out the Check My Numbers facility as part of upgrades to its online facilities. This was due to its low usage by players.
Regulator of the National Lottery Carol Boat said that every breach is a “serious matter” for her office and “I do not underestimate the potential impact that this technical error could have had on a larger prize winner”.
The report also showed that National Lottery sales during 2023 dropped 6.2% compared to 2022. This sees sales for 2023 fall in line with 2018 levels.
Proceeds to good causes in 2023 stood at €227.9m.
In November last year, French company La Française des Jeux, which operates the French National Lottery, purchased Premier Lotteries from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, An Post and the An Post Pension Fund.
The regulator approved this change of ownership following a detailed assessment of the request. Premier Lotteries continues to operate the National Lottery Under the 20-year licence granted to it in 2014.
