Australia and New Zealand casino operator SkyCity could have its New Zealand casino license suspended over a customer complaint that the company did not follow gaming harm protection rules.
The suspension could last “in the range of 10 days,” according to a company release late Sunday.
‘A decision may not be forthcoming for a number of months,’ regarding the suspension, notes the company.
The customer complaint took place in February of 2022, issued to the nation’s Department of Internal Affairs. The former customer ‘gambled at the SkyCity Auckland casino over the period from August 2018 to February’.
The Secretary of the Department’s application to the Gambling Commission to suspend SkyCity’s license states ‘SCML did not comply with requirements in its SkyCity Auckland Host Responsibility Program relating to detection of incidences of continuous play by the customer’.
SCML is the license holder for the group’s three New Zealand casinos -located in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.
While SkyCity estimates the suspension could last just 10 days, it does note that the Gambling Commission ‘will now consider whether to make or order to suspend [the casino license] and, if so, the duration of any such suspension’.
The Gambling Commission can either grant the order sought by the Secretary after ‘considering written submissions and (if applicable) convening a hearing’.
SkyCity notes that if the casino license is suspended ‘this would not impact SkyCity’s non-gaming operations’.
SkyCity recently registered its first full year of uninterrupted operations since COVID, registering gaming revenue of NS$654.5 million ($388.7 million) and overall revenue of NZ$926.2 million ($550.13 million). The group noted that during the period, growth in EGM revenue was ‘robust’, despite table games being slow to ramp-up.
The group also operates SkyCity Adelaide, in Australia, which is also under investigation for possible malpractice.
