Northern Ireland – No longer the need for a ‘No Purchase Necessary Route’

The rules around prize promotions in Northern Ireland (NI) have always been a headache for marketers due to differences in their laws from the rest of the United Kingdom.

Until last month, legislation in NI prohibited individuals from entering prize promotions, including, games of chance, where there was a requirement to make a payment to enter -even if it was a promoted product at its normal price. This meant that in order to run a purchase-linked promotion in NI, brands would need to provide a ‘No Purchase Necessary Route’ (NPN) exclusively for those in NI to enter via so that they would be able to enter without having to buy the brand.

The newly changed legislation now states that the purchase of a product at it normal price is NOT now regarded as a ‘payment to participate’ in a game of chance and therefore an NPN route is no longer required in NI and this brings NI in line with the laws of England, Scotland and Wales under the 2005 Gambling Act.

For those running competitions nothing has changed and brands are still able to charge the consumer to participate (and therefore technically increase the RRP of a participating product) as long as a sufficient level of skill is involved and a significant proportion of people get the answer wrong.

As always, If you have any questions regarding international marketing compliance or anything promotional marketing related, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our team at info@promoveritas.com.