The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) urged the gambling industry to be more serious and tolerant to consumer complaints. The country’s gambling regulator published some findings related to a Commission’s review, according to which both alternative dispute resolution providers and gambling companies needed to improve their way of handling consumer disputes in their practice.
Previously, the Gambling Commission has published a review of the way such complaints are being processed in the gambling industry. The UK gambling regulator has also published some information about the issues that it would be more focused when making its proposal throughout 2017, and encouraged both the industry and the public to share their views on the matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of UKGC Sarah Harrison commented on the regulator’s announcement, saying that the findings presented by the UKGC represent what she called “a strong case” for the entire gambling industry. The Commission made a step towards prompting the industry to take quick measures in order to make sure customer disputes are not only dealt in a way fit for the purpose, but also put customers first.
Ms. Harrison explained that the key goal of the UK Gambling Commission was to see an industry that valued and looked for customers feedback. Another one of the major priorities of the gambling regulatory authority was to make industry operators resolve their users’ complaints quickly and efficiently. According to the UKGC boss, the regulatory body sought from operators to raise their standards and provide their users with customer service of the best quality.
As mentioned above, the UKGC has published a review of consumer complaints one year after the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme had been officially introduced. Back in 2015, Great Britain saw some new regulations on the provision of alternative dispute resolution come into effect. Under the new rules, the UK Gambling Commission was promoted to become a competent authority to provide ADR in the country’s gambling industry. It was also granted with the responsibility to approve ADR providers.
So, as part of these responsibility the UK gambling regulatory body has made the decision to review and evaluate the way customer complaints are being processed within the industry. The Commission also wanted to check if any changes have been implemented and issued the review in an attempt to raise the overall standards in the gaming industry. According to the review published by the regulator, the system used when handling the consumer complaints was not satisfactory enough, as it was not working in favour of consumers. The latter usually found it hard to access the parties which took care of the disputes, and the process was too long to process. Fairness and transparency were also some of the key factors the UKGC urges the industry to work on.
The UKGC Chief Executive Officer revealed that the Commission planned to join forces with gambling operators, as well as alternative dispute resolution providers (ADR providers), trade associations, customers and their official representatives. In addition, the gambling regulatory body would seek good practices used in handling consumer disputes and complaints in other industry sectors.
- Author
Daniel Williams
