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Norwegian Lottery Authority issues warning after technical failure excluded thousands of players from April super draw
The incident saw 16,698 participants wrongly excluded from the Easter super draw after a system malfunction deleted player entries submitted through cooperative banks during the Christmas and New Year period. As a result, 52 players were incorrectly drawn as winners of million-krone prizes, representing 0.2% of affected ranks.
Norsk Tipping attributed the failure to a technical error within its lottery system. While the operator refunded stakes to affected players who were excluded from the draw, Lotteritilsynet determined the incident breached Norway’s Gambling Act and warrants formal sanctions.
In its official notice issued on Monday, September 29, the regulator confirmed the penalty fee could reach the maximum threshold of NOK25 million. Norsk Tipping has been granted three weeks to respond to the case before a final decision is made.
Regulator Criticizes “Gross Negligence”
Tore Bell, department director at Lotteritilsynet, issued sharp criticism of Norsk Tipping’s handling of the situation. Bell revealed that the regulator had been aware of ongoing system issues and considered intervening before the draw, but allowed it to proceed after receiving assurances from the operator.
“Trust that the draw and the basis for the draw will be correct is absolutely fundamental for a lottery,” Bell stated. “This is gross negligence. Norsk Tipping did not check that all ranks were included in the draw, even though they had knowledge at the time that there had been serious errors in the draw basis over a long period of time.”
Bell also highlighted concerns about a preliminary security report submitted by Norsk Tipping shortly after the draw. The report stated the draw was conducted without issue and that all players had equal chances of winning—a claim that proved false.
“It is reprehensible that Norsk Tipping could establish that the super draw was carried out correctly despite not checking that everyone who had bought tickets was allowed to participate in the draw,” Bell added. “This is likely to weaken trust in the company.”
Fourth Penalty in Under a Year
If confirmed, this would mark the fourth penalty imposed on Norsk Tipping within the past year, raising serious questions about the operator’s compliance and technical infrastructure.
In September 2025, Norsk Tipping received a NOK46 million fine for technical failures affecting Eurojackpot and Lotto games. The investigation found that players in cooperatives, gaming clubs, and cooperative banks had disproportionately higher chances of winning than intended.
Earlier in March, a NOK36 million penalty was issued after a software bug prevented self-excluded players from blocking access to their accounts. This followed a 2024 fine of NOK2.5 million when the company mistakenly paid a player NOK25 million in incorrect winnings.
Lotteritilsynet also recently indicated that Norsk Tipping could face an additional NOK10 million penalty over a June 27 Eurojackpot error, which saw 47,000 players incorrectly notified of excessively high prize wins. That incident led to the resignation of former Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen.
Industry Criticism and Regulatory Scrutiny
The series of failures has drawn criticism from gambling trade bodies across Scandinavia, which condemned what they described as a “lack of action” from Lotteritilsynet. The groups labeled the incidents as evidence of systemic issues within state gambling monopolies.
In response to mounting concerns, Bell confirmed that Lotteritilsynet will conduct a major inspection this autumn focusing on Lotto, Eurojackpot, and Vikinglotto operations.
“All these cases make it crucial that Norsk Tipping tightens its routines, controls and the quality of what it does,” Bell said. “That is why we have announced a major inspection this autumn where we will look at Lotto, Eurojackpot and Vikinglotto.”
The outcome of the inspection and the final penalty decision are expected to have significant implications for the operator’s reputation and operational practices moving forward.
