Further Gambling Regulation Consultations Published

The Gambling Commission has launched its second phase of consultations on proposals outlined in the Gambling Act Review White Paper.

The consultation opened on 29^th November and will run for 12 weeks, covering the following topics:

1. Socially responsible incentives:

• Consulting on proposals to ban or limit the use of wagering requirements in promotional offers.
• Proposing to ban the mixing of product types, such as betting, bingo, casino and lotteries, within incentives.
• Seeking views on changes to the LCCP section regarding rewards and bonuses, to make it clear that incentives should be constructed in a manner that does not lead to excessive or harmful gambling.

2. Customer-led tools:

• Consulting on changes to the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards to ensure that consumers who want to make use of pre-commitment tools, such as deposit limits, can do so easily and in ways that work for them.
• Seeking opinions on consumers’ ability to choose limits across accounts held with multiple operators
• Addressing concerns or examples where consumer decision-making may have been influenced by the use of friction or other barriers.

3. Improved transparency of protection of customer funds in the event of insolvency:

• Consulting on an addition to the existing LCCP provision, for gambling businesses that offer no protection in the event of insolvency to remind customers that their funds are not protected.

4. Changes to the frequency of regulatory returns submissions:

• Proposing to change the LCCP so that all regulatory returns would have to be submitted quarterly, to help provide a more timely and accurate picture of the gambling sector.

5. Removal of annual financial contributions requirement:

• Proposing to remove the current LCCP requirement for licensees to make annual financial contributions to research, prevention and treatment organisations, as this will become obsolete once the government’s upcoming statutory levy is introduced.

Interested parties can access the full consultation and submit their contributions here. Operators and stakeholders who may be affected are strongly encouraged to make evidence-based contributions to the consultation.

This follows the first round of White Paper consultations launched by the Gambling Commission in in July.