Lottoland Australia wins injunction in fight over ‘jackpot betting’

Online lottery betting operator Lottoland isn’t being paranoid: its Australian regulator really is out to get the company.

Last Thursday, Lottoland Australia won an injunction from the Northern Territory Supreme Court temporarily preventing the state government and its Minister for Racing from pressing forward with changes to gambling regulations that Lottoland claims will destroy its Australian business model.

Lottoland sought the injunction after the Northern Territory Racing Commission (NTRC) sought undisclosed changes to the NT’s Racing and Betting Act 1983. A Lottoland attorney said the changes, which the NTRC informed Lottoland of last December, would apply to all NTRC-licensed bookmakers but “would only negatively affect Lottoland.”

On Monday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Racing Minister Natasha Fyles sent the NTRC a letter last November after receiving complaints from consumers regarding Lottoland’s ‘jackpot betting’ product, which apparently confused some consumers into believing they were participating in a lottery draw.