Who: Taichi Tech Limited, Gambling Commission
Where: United Kingdom
When: 3 July 2025
Law stated as at: 9 July 2025
What happened:
Taichi Tech Limited, trading as Fafabet, has been handed a £170,000 fine by the Gambling Commission, due to unfair terms and conditions and anti-money laundering and social responsibility breaches.
The Gambling Commission’s investigation revealed that Taichi Tech Limited had stated in its terms that “Fafabet have the right at their own discretion to close accounts or forfeit winnings”. This was deemed to breach the fair and open licensing conditions under the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) rule 7.1.1 because it included a discretionary term allowing the operator to close customer accounts or forfeit winnings without clear justification. The LCCP requires that licensees ensure their terms and practices are fair, clear and do not breach consumer protection law. The clause in question fell foul of this.
In addition to the unfair terms and conditions, Taichi Tech Limited was also found to have failed in other important areas:
- Anti-money laundering compliance: despite Taichi Tech Limited holding only limited customer information, some customers were able to gamble large sums within a short period of time.
- Social responsibility: there were no follow ups, interactions or interventions by Taichi Tech Limited for customers that spent significant amounts of money over short periods, or where they were sent safer gambling emails and did not provide any acknowledgement of these to the operator.
Why this matters:
As the £170,000 comprises breach of consumer law alongside breaches of anti-money laundering and social responsibility requirements, we cannot assess the amount that each breach contributed to this fine. Nevertheless, this is a clear indication from the Gambling Commission that operators must ensure that their terms and processes are in compliance with consumer law.
