British Gambling Commission clarifies ban on certain bonus and reward offers
New restrictions come into effect for offers of rewards and free bets and spins from January 1.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has provided more details and examples of its upcoming ban on gambling reward cross selling. Entering effect on January 1, the new Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) Social Responsibility Code (“Code”) 5.1.1(3b) will prohibit gambling licensees from including more than one type of gambling product within an incentive.
Essentially the new rule means that bonus offers such as free bets, sign-up offers or daily reward offers cannot include requirements for activity across multiple verticals like betting, casino, bingo and lottery, including where terms are linked and shared.
The regulator clarified that the ban on mixing of products does not affect incentives which allow the customer to choose or select the product on which to use credits or bonus money on an unrestricted basis. For example, it will still be permitted for licensees to offer an incentive which provides a customer with £10 bonus to use as they wish on products is permitted, so long as the list of available product categories is unrestricted.
However, incentives that are constructed in a way that requires the customer to participate in a specific product category must offer prizes in respect of the same category. Incentive must not require a customer to stake or participate in product X to get a reward of product Y.
As such, an offer that states “Bet £5 to get a free £5 bet” would be compliant with the new rules, but an offer that states “Bet £5 and get 20 free spins” would not.
Irrespective of whether a stake is required on the product category, if the reward/prize is mixed, this would not be permitted under the new Code provisions. An incentive that required the customer to open a gambling app and play a daily free award game, which gives the customer the opportunity to win the right to participate in a range of licensed products in casino and betting, would not be compliant, even though a stake was not required.
In contrast, a daily free award game which offers prizes from the same category would be a compliant offer.
The new rules will also restrict in-app free-to-play games, banning those that offer rewards across verticals. Again, rewards must be restricted to one type of product.
Gambling Commission senior policy manager Pradeep Rajania said: “The provision applies irrespective of whether a stake on the product category is required or not in order to receive the reward. The prize gives an opportunity to win a range of mixed products which are stipulated by the operator which means this offer would be non-compliant.
“The important point to note is that the customer must have full freedom of choice in which product category to use their credits or bonus money – it must not be restricted in any way by the operator.”
What incentives can be offered under the new Gambling Commission rules?
The Gambling Commission provided a list of scenarios to clarify which would and would not be compliant from January 1.
