French regulator to simplify gambling self-exclusion system
The Autorité Nationale des Jeux plans to make it easier for players to block access to gambling products.
France.- The new national gambling regulator Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has announced plans to vastly simplify the country’s gambling self-exclusion system to make it easier for players to block access to products.
The ANJ intends to change the way players sign up to the service to make it quicker and easier.
The current method requires players to have a face-to-face interview at a police station with someone from the Central Race and Gambling Service (SCCJ) to finalise their registration.
The average delay for self-exclusion to come into effect is around six weeks. It has also been claimed that police sometimes dissuade consumers from using the service.
The ANJ plans to introduce a new three-step digital process making it much easier and quicker for players to self-exclude.
Players would be able to make an initial request to self-exclude online at Interdictiondejeux.anj.fr or by post. The ANJ would then contact the player by phone to verify their identity before confirming their registration by post.
This system would reduce the delay between the request and the self-exclusion coming into effect to a maximum of two weeks, the ANJ said.
The period of self-exclusion would last for three years, after which players would be able to ask for the block to be removed. ANJ would verify this request before informing the player when they have been removed from the self-exclusion register.
ANJ board member and addiction specialist Mario Blaise said: “Problematic gamblers think about it, they hear about it, but if the process is too complicated, they give up.
“We can hope that the [the changes] by the ANJ will enable those who wish to do so to use it earlier and more quickly. And we know that reducing access to the gambling offer is an important step for players in difficulty.”
The French self-exclusion register blocks players from accessing land-based casinos, sports betting, online poker sites and games run by Française des Jeux and PMU both online and via retail points of sale. There are 38,500 people currently self-excluding.
The ANJ was launched as France’s new single gaming regulator in June.
Last week, the ANJ announced new measures for consumer protection to tackle problem gambling and underage gaming.
