The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has made its initial “joint consultation” with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) public. The consultation was related to the changes that have been proposed in the operator fees regarding the gambling licenses granted on the territory of the UK. The UKGC expects the changes to be put into action in April 2017.
The Commission has made various proposals related to the operator fees in the country.
It has expressed its belief that all major changes to both their expenses and income after the official implementation of the Gambling Act 2014 should be closely monitored and taken account of. Another one of the proposed changes about the gambling licenses fees regard the efficiencies that are being achieved in industry expenditure. According to the UK Gambling Commission, when the proposed fees take effect, they would reduce the overall fee burden across the country’s gambling industry by at least 10%.
The Gambling Commission also proposed a change that would ensure that all costs will still be recovered proportionately depending on the type and size of the operator. After the consultation with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the UK watchdog considered some further issues related to the current structure of gambling license fees.
A number of paramount modifications to the overall fee structure was also proposed. These modifications included putting a clear outline of the replacement of “number of premises” with the so-called gross gambling yield (GGY). This is considered to be the basis for implementing categorisations of fees across a number of gambling licenses.
When it comes to the new fees’ structure, the UKGC also proposed several sub-divisions of the fee categories to be created. According to the regulator, creating smaller categories would come as a guarantee that the industry costs would be recovered more fairly. In addition, the Gambling Commission proposed that the re-alignment of the gambling market cost recovery should be executed more proportionately in correspondence to the gross gambling yield.
The UKGC also shared its expectations that if its proposals are taken into account, they will lead to reducing the fees for about 1,900 operators. At the same time, the fees are expected to stay at their current levels for another 1,000 operators, while only 100 operators would probably be subjected to fees increase.
When making its proposals related to fees changes to the Government, the UK Gambling Commission has taken into account the stakeholders’ opinions and responses received over the fees discussions that took place in 2015. The Commission also has taken into consideration the consultation outcome. It has also announced that an advisory workshop for trade associations on the matter will be held in Birmingham this month.
- Author
Daniel Williams
