No players under the age of 18 would be able to access the games offered by the UK National Lottery as of the following week.
The National Lottery is set to raise the minimum age for playing its games as part of its efforts to tackle gambling addiction rates in the country. The change will basically prevent 16- and 17-year-olds from purchasing lottery tickets and accessing any lottery games as of April 22nd, although they will be able to claim prizes for scratchcards and lottery tickets purchased before this date. Furthermore, it has been unveiled by the National Lottery that the measure is taken in correspondence with the restrictions regarding other gambling products in the UK.
The announcement of the increase in the age limit for National Lottery products follows a Government review that took place in 2020, which found that the minimum age to participate in the NL draws and games should be the same that is applicable to the other forms of gambling available in the country – 18.
Furthermore, the increase of the legal age to access the UK National Lottery products would apply to both retail and online lottery sales. It was also announced that new accounts that are being created online will become subject to special age verification checks executed via Experian.
More Than 200,000 16- and 17-Year-Olds Play the National Lottery Games Regularly
Previously, figures showed that over 200,000 children at the age of 16 and 17 regularly play the Lotto and purchase scratchcards. In March, the House of Lords revealed that a large number of the 55,000 underage individuals facing problems to control their gambling behaviour started gambling by playing exactly the games offered by the National Lottery.
According to campaigners from an organisation called Clean Up Gambling, the younger a person starts gambling, the more likely they are to develop gambling addiction at a later stage. That is why campaigners and their leader Matt Zarb-Cousin have insisted on restricting all types of gambling, including the products of the National Lottery, for all individuals under the legal age of 18.
Last year, some Members of Parliament backed the proposed curbs regarding the National Lottery’s legal age, saying they are willing to implement more restrictions on the sector in order to prevent the most vulnerable members of society. At the time, it was believed that the move to further restrict gambling options for younger people will hardly be made until 2023.
This is not the first time when some restrictions in terms of new age limits have been considered. A couple of years ago, the then-Sports Minister Tracey Crouch made an attempt to introduce a new age limit to make sure underage individuals are better protected against possible gambling-related harm.
Now, the operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot, finally decided to be more proactive and encourage “healthy play” by making it impossible for players under the age of 18 to access the NL services.
- Author
Daniel Williams
