The National Lottery has changed its online system for playing its biggest games after complaints were made to the watchdog about players being automatically entered into its Plus draws unless they specifically opted out.
Entering the Plus draw for Lotto and EuroMillions costs an extra €1 per line of numbers while it is an additional 50 cent per line for the Daily Million Plus game.
The National Lottery confirmed that it has changed its website so that players now have to click a box to opt in to the extra draws.
It comes after Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath told the Dáil that the National Lottery regulator was examining the opt-out system for its Plus games after it had received complaints on the matter.
In response to questions from The Irish Times the Regulator declined to say how many complaints it received. But it said it is responsive to any issues raised directly by the public.
A statement said the regulator is “considering whether this matter is compliant with the National Lottery Act and Licence. As with all ongoing reviews, we are not in a position to comment until the process is complete.”
The issue had been raised in a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond.
‘Much better choice’
He welcomed the National Lottery’s decision to change its website.
“Applying such opt-out charges to players was wrong and the new system will give players a much better choice. It is no surprise to me that the regulator received complaints about this system based on those who had contacted my office about it. I’ve no doubt many ended up spending much more playing the lotto than they wanted to or probably could afford”.
A National Lottery spokesman confirmed the changes to its website, saying its customers will now have to opt in to play the Plus games online.
“Nearly 90 per cent of our players include Plus games in their lottery draw tickets both in shops and online. Historically opt-out options have been included for convenience in our digital channels,” he said.
However, he added: “We learned today that the regulator of the National Lottery is considering this opt-out option as a result of complaints that she received . . . As a result we’re happy to remove this option and ask customers to opt in when they want to play with Plus, while we review and establish what’s best for our customers based on their feedback.”
