British Gambling Commission opens new consultation amid confusion over deposit limits
Some players have confirmed that gambling operators are interpreting limits in an unfair way.
UK.- The Gambling Commission has opened a new consultation ahead of the introduction of proposed mandatory deposit limits for new players. Under a new rule announced last month, operators will be required to implement procedures by October 31 to ensure that new customers set a deposit limit before they can make their first payment into their account from October.
Operators have been told to start preparing their systems to implement the rule, but another issue has now emerged: how to define deposit limits anyway. The regulator is now seeking feedback to determine how they should be defined and communicated to players.
Complaints over the definition of gambling deposit limits
The British regulator’s new consultation comes after it received a string of complaints from customers who said that operators were implementing limits in an “unfair and misleading” way. That’s because some operators have been subtracting any withdrawals from the amount that customers deposit to calculate a ‘net deposit limit’ rather than a straight sum of deposits made alone.
For example, if a customer sets and reaches a deposit limit of £20 per week but then withdraws £10, the operator allows them to deposit another £10, taking the total deposit to £30. The Gambling Commission suggested that this practice was causing confusion and that some customers believed it to be contrary to the point of setting a limit.
The consultation document states: “Via responses to the consultation for these changes (the initial consultation), engagement with industry and consumer contacts, it has become clear that some operators are changing the way in which they interpret financial limits, in particular deposit limits.”
It added: “Whilst we are of the view that ‘net’ deposit limits would not meet the definition of ‘deposit limits’ proposed in the initial consultation, we are choosing to consult further on this issue to ensure clarity, rather than implement the initial consultation proposals and pursue this as a compliance matter.”
The consultation comprises 20 questions on the texts on deposit limits from the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS) framework, and asks for suggestions on how they could be improved to make them clearer. The consultation will be open via the Gambling Commission website until April 30.
For all customers, the new rules require operators to make it easier for customers to review and modify deposit limits. Licensees must also send customers notifications every six months to remind them to review their limit and amend it if desired. The Gambling Commission says the aim is to give players more control over how they manage their gambling spend online.
