Today, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) revealed new plans aimed at making online gambling in the UK safer than ever before. The major gambling regulatory body in the UK published its review on online gambling, proposing certain changes in order to make sure that local customers are well-protected.
As revealed by the Commission, statistics show that online gambling industry profits increased by 10% reaching £4.7 billion in 2017, while public participation has risen by 3% over a three-year period, from 15.5% in 2014, to 18.3% in 2017. According to the information revealed by the UK gambling regulatory body, about 9 million people in the country place online bets.
The Chief Executive Officer of the UKGC, Neil McArthur, reminded that the largest regulated digital gambling market on a global scale belonged to the UK, so the local regulatory authorities were constantly looking for ways to boost the efficiency, fairness and safety of that market for customers. As explained by Mr. McArthur, the proposals which the UK Gambling Commission made today are aimed at protecting under-aged individuals better, reduce the risks which gambling-related harm hides for more vulnerable players and also use the existing measures imposed on operators to prevent gambling-related harm.
UKGC Proposes Several Changes and Actions
The UKGC proposed a number of changes and actions to be taken in order for better regulation for digital gambling market to be ensured.
The gambling regulatory authorities aims at further protecting children by suspending gambling operators from offering free-to-play demo games until the provider is able to determine and confirm a customer’s age. According to the Commission, the speed and efficiency of the processed used for age verification, should be improved.
The UK Gambling Commission also recommended that gambling companies should make sure that they had set limits on customers’ spending until the co-called “affordability checks” were carried out in order to determine whether a player was spending more they could actually afford to, or not.
As Casino Guardian has reported on a number of occasions earlier, unacceptable gambling advertising and marketing, as well as unfair terms should be dealt with. According to the regulator, online gambling operators need to bring some improvements into their complaints and disputes procedures. In addition, the interaction with customers has always been a matter of paramount priority, especially when it comes to players who may be experiencing gambling-related harm, or could be put at risk of becoming gambling addicts.
Moreover, in its latest review announced today, the UK Gambling Commission identified five areas in which it plans to take further measures over the upcoming year. The gambling regulator explained that it plans to put more efforts into assessment of the effectiveness of the existing tools available to customers to manage their gambling. In addition, the UKGC said that it would review the characteristics of gambling products in order to find out if particular features of these products are associated with greater gambling-related harm.
In addition, the major gambling regulatory body in the UK is to review its own requirements related to customer funds’ protection and take into consideration the existing protection measures and the requirements related to the so-called “dormant accounts” and “dormancy fees”, respectively. The UK Gambling Commission is to also consider if gambling on credit should still be permitted in the country. Furthermore, it plans to take into considerations the matters related to possible changes to make sure that customers would be given the opportunity to withdraw their money in a easier and risk-free manner.
- Author
Daniel Williams
