British Gambling Commission launches consultation on gaming machine standards
![The new Gambling Commission consultation will run until May 20.](https://focusgn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BCG-celebrates-the-reopening-of-betting-shops-in-the-UK.jpg)
The latest consultation covers technical standards and the testing of gaming machines.
UK.- Almost two years on from the publication of the last government’s gambling white paper, the British Gambling Commission has launched a new consultation on proposed reforms. This time, the focus is on proposals for new technical standards and testing criteria for gaming machines.
The proposed changes would affect the regulator’s Gaming Machine Technical Standards (GMTS), Gaming Machine Testing Strategy (testing strategy) and the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). All stakeholders, including consumers, gambling businesses and testing houses are invited to share feedback.
The proposals include five new standards, a licence condition, and a social responsibility code provision, which the regulator says are “designed to support and empower consumers to use gaming machines safely at every stage of the customer journey”. There are proposals for time and monetary limit setting, safer gambling messaging and how net position and session time should be displayed.
The existing 12 gaming machine technical standards would be combined into a single standard, and the format would be aligned with the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards. Meanwhile, the gaming industry has asked for three existing standards to be revised to improve gameplay. As for testing, the proposal is to remove obsolete material.
Tim Miller, the Gambling Commission’s executive director for research and policy, said: “The White Paper sets out that a top priority is ensuring that gambling happens safely. We share this commitment, and today’s consultation proposes how we could implement gaming machine changes in the land-based sector.
“We recognise that regulatory changes impacting the design of machines can come with considerable costs. We are encouraging consumers, gambling businesses, and other interested groups to share evidence that will assist us in measuring both the likely regulatory impacts of the proposed changes and the likely costs of implementing them. This evidence will be invaluable in helping to make a robust assessment of whether the benefits to consumers are proportionate to the costs involved.”
The consultation will run from January 29 to May 20, 2025. Feedback can be submitted via an online survey.
The Gambling Commission has reported that three people have been arrested today in relation to allegations of match fixing on a boxing fight. A 54-year-old woman, a 33-year-old man and a 23-year-old man were arrested in Birmingham as part of an investigation led by the Gambling Commission and supported by West Midlands Police. All three are alleged to have committed the offences under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005.
Meanwhile, the UK health body NICE this week recommended that doctors ask patients about gambling behaviour as part of a standard health check.