UK online gambling operator GVC Holdings has been fined £350k for free bonus offers that regulators claim repeatedly misled consumers.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that it had slapped GVC subsidiary ElectraWorks with a £350k penalty for “repeatedly misleading consumers with adverts relating to free bonuses.”

The ads in question first appeared on GVC’s flagship sports betting site Bwin.com, and were the subject of a public scolding by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in August 2016. However, a similar ad appeared one week later on Bwin.com, and six similar breaches were discovered last April on GVC sites including PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com and Casinolasvegas.com, and then again on Casinolasvegas last August.

The UK has been clamping down on gambling operators’ bonus offers, part of the UKGC’s new strategy of ensuring a “fairer” gambling market by compelling operators to put consumers first, or else. Wednesday also brought word of tough new advertising standards for gambling operators.