British Gambling Commission opens white paper consultations
The new consultations are the result of the UK government’s review of gambling legislation.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has invited responses from gambling stakeholders, the treatment sector and consumers on a series of proposals resulting from the UK government’s gambling white paper. The consultations will be open for 12 weeks and take input on six areas.
The consultations’ main proposals cover financial risk and vulnerability, the game design in online gambling, consumer choice in direct marketing and age verification at land-based gaming venues. They also cover personal management licences and regulatory panels.
On financial risk, the consultation will consider a recommendation for operators to be required to conduct financial risk checks in cases of high losses. One proposed benchmark is a monthly net loss threshold of £125 or yearly net loss of £500. A higher limit suggested is £1,000 in losses in one day or £2,000 in 90 days.
Game design proposals include a recommendation to reduce the speed and intensity of online products, such as slot games. There is also a proposal to allow customers an option to opt-in to a product type and to marketing channels. As for age verification, the proposal is for the good practice code to be changed to require land-based gaming venues to perform ID checks on customers who appear under 25 instead of under 21 and to remove an exemption of tests for smaller venues.
Finally, the regulator is consulting on the composition and decision-making of its regulatory panels.
Gambling Commission executive director for research and policy Tim Miller said: “These consultations offer the opportunity for people to have their say on proposals aimed at empowering and protecting consumers. Many of these proposals have already had a significant amount of engagement and scrutiny, and the government’s white paper sets out the policy positions.
“We are pleased to now focus consultation and engagement on the detail of how such protections and controls can be implemented in practice. Today’s launch is a key moment in turning the commitments in the white paper into reality.”
Consultation on stake limits for online casino
Meanwhile, the government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport is consulting on proposals to introduce a maximum stake limit of between £2 and £5 for online slots, with a lower limit for young customers.
Gambling minister Stuart Andrew said: “Three months ago we laid out proposals to update gambling laws and make them fit for the smartphone age. Slot machines in casinos, arcades and betting shops have strict stake limits but very similar games online have none, which can lead to very large and rapid losses of money.
“Today we are launching a consultation for a range of views on what the stake limit should be. I encourage you to have your say.”
