They returned a billion: how disputes between players and bookmakers are resolved in the Russian Federation

At the moment, there is no officially authorized body in Russia that would deal with pre-trial consideration of disputes in the field of sports betting. Until October 1, 2021, self-regulatory organizations of betting companies worked with such appeals, membership in which was one of the conditions for conducting legal activities in the country. However, after the entry into force of the new regulations, the function of an arbitrator was left in the air – neither the ERAI nor the ETSUPIS are obliged to fulfill it.

Nevertheless, there are several platforms in Russia that specialize in resolving disputes of this kind. The largest of them is the information and analytical portal “Rating of Bookmakers”. Based on the results of consideration of applications from 2014 to 2021, RB experts, together with the support services of betting companies, managed to return more than 1 billion rubles to the players. During the specified period, the “Rating of Bookmakers” received over 40 thousand requests.

The top 3 most popular requests include messages about account blocking (25.3%), payment delays (22.9%) and incorrect, in the user’s opinion, rate calculation (22.4%). The leaders in the number of applications (21.5% of the total) are still Moscow and the Moscow Region. The largest one-time refund was 19.7 million rubles.

“We managed to achieve such impressive results thanks to the daily work of the Bookmaker Rating and Bookmaker’s support service. Together, we are gradually shaping a new attitude towards the industry, which is becoming more transparent, open and customer-oriented. The work done is our common contribution to the development of the idea of ​​“responsible gambling”, which is carried out by the association of the same name, which we established, ”said Anton Yestokin, Marketing Director of the“ Rating of Bookmakers ”.

Experience of foreign countries

In the United States, the process of legalizing the betting business began relatively recently – in 2018. As a rule, local regulatory bodies of the state are involved in the consideration of disputes there, such as The Nevada Gaming Control Board, Delaware Lottery, etc.

England is considered a trendsetter in the betting industry, and the British arbitration system in this area can also be called exemplary: a separate instance has been created in the country that issues licenses and performs market control functions – Gambling Commission. It has a special service for handling disputes involving players and bookmakers (Independent Betting Adjudication Service, IBAS). The organization has existed since 1998. For 23 years of its activity, it received over 75 thousand requests, and the total amount returned to the players amounted to more than 6.5 million pounds (which is about 3.5 million less than returned by “RB” in just 6 years of work). IBAS decisions are binding on betting companies.

In Malta, the Malta Gaming Authority acts as such a regulator. It also includes a service that resolves disputes between betting companies and their clients. As with IBAS, applications are only accepted if the operator is locally licensed.