Norsk Tipping Hit with NOK 25 Million Fine for Drawing 52 Wrong Winners

Lotteritilsynet has finalized a NOK 25 million (€2.1 million) fine against Norsk Tipping after a technical error in the April 19 Super Draw resulted in 52 incorrect winners of million-kroner prizes.

"Players must be able to trust that Norsk Tipping's draws are correct. This is fundamental, and therefore this is a serious matter," said Tore Bell, Division Director at Lotteritilsynet.

Technical Failure Deleted Player EntriesThe fault caused players who submitted entries through the syndicate bank around Christmas and New Year to be deleted from the system. These players were consequently excluded from the April 19 draw, meaning the draw proceeded with an incorrect participant pool and produced 52 erroneous million-kroner winners.

Norsk Tipping has since refunded stakes to all affected players who were wrongly excluded from the draw.

Regulator Considered Stopping the DrawThe April error occurred after multiple previous faults had already been discovered. Lotteritilsynet considered halting the draw due to suspicions of additional errors but proceeded after Norsk Tipping provided assurances.

"We can stop a game if it is not conducted properly. We considered this in this case, but we received multiple guarantees that the draw would proceed correctly. It is then unacceptable that there were still errors," Bell stated.

Days after the draw, Norsk Tipping reported that the Super Draw had been conducted with correct draw parameters and winning odds—a claim that proved false.

Fines Exceed NOK 100 Million in One YearThis marks the fifth fine Lotteritilsynet has issued to Norsk Tipping in just over one year, bringing total penalties above NOK 100 million (€8.5 million).

The regulator has now launched a major audit of Lotto, Eurojackpot, and Vikinglotto operations.