Government clamps down on text gambling

11.00am

The Department of Internal Affairs is warning businesses running text competitions that cellphone gambling is banned.

Internal Affairs director of gaming and censorship regulation Keith Manch said the recent Gambling Act has banned almost all forms of gambling using cellphones which could affect text competitions.

Mr Manch said children and teenagers were high users of cellphones and it was a concern text gambling could lead to gambling addiction.

He said young people were more vulnerable to text gambling as they were less likely to understand how much money they were losing when debts were charged to phone accounts or credit cards.

Businesses could run promotional text competitions for prizes but needed to be careful cellphones were simply used as a means to enter a draw. For instance there could not be a higher charge to text to enter a competition than normal.

Mr Manch said there were many issues to consider and businesses should get legal advice before running competitions.

Telecommunications companies and broadcasters can be prosecuted for being involved in illegal text competitions.

- NZPA