French regulator orders changes to player protection strategies
The ANJ has told some operators to make improvements to the strategies they submitted.
France.- The French gaming regulator, L’Autorité nationale des Jeux (ANJ), announced new player protection measures earlier in the year, requiring all licensed operators to submit player protection strategies for approval.
The new requirements were introduced as part of the regulator’s five-pillar strategy for the next three years. Earlier this year, it took steps to simplify France’s gambling self-exclusion system.
The ANJ has now approved 96 strategies submitted by operators. It has not rejected any submissions outright but has ordered improvements be made to those of several operators.
It prioritised four areas when reviewing the strategies: controls to prohibit minors from gambling, the availability of self-exclusion tools, identification of potential problem gamblers and a general policy to protect problem gamblers.
Among the operators told to make improvements was France’s horseracing betting monopoly, PMU. The ANJ said PMU did not make responsible gambling tools easy enough to access.
It also found that PMU’s training of employees and identification of problem gamblers was below standard.
The regulator ordered PMU to provide technical specifications of its system for the identification of problem gamblers and to improve its training and the accessibility of responsible gambling tools.
ANJ said: “Further progress is expected from the operator to fully achieve the objective of preventing excessive or pathological gambling.”
As for the other major gaming monopoly in France, the lottery operator La Française des Jeux (FDJ), the ANJ approved its plan outright.
It said the FDJ’s plan included “an ambitious program aimed at guaranteeing the ban on gambling by minors on all game types, innovative prevention initiatives, diversified and adapted to the profiles of players, and the existence of an advanced player identification and support system for pathological gamblers.”
Earlier in the year, the ANJ raised “serious concerns” over both FDJ and PMU’s marketing strategies.
Among private operators, ANJ approved market leader Betclic’s strategy but with conditions. As in the case of PMU, it insisted that Betclic ensure that responsible gambling tools were more easily accessible.
As for Kindred Group, which operates Unibet, the regulator praised its system for identifying problem gambling but said it needed to better clarify that minors are not allowed to gamble.
The ANJ has reported record online gaming revenue in France in 2020.
