Gambling Commission seeks major reform to online slots

“On the 9th July, the Gambling Commission (GC) launched its consultation on online slots game design and reverse withdrawals.

Proposals include a range of new restrictions aimed at improving consumer protection.

If the new controls are approved, the requirements will be introduced via the Gambling Commission’s remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS).

The GC has stated that speed of play, frequency of betting opportunities and other factors can increase addiction and risk of harm and that proposals regarding the design of slots games are the first step in keeping players safe.

The consultation seeks views on proposals, which:

• Reduce the intensity of online slots;
• Improve the information available to consumers that play slots; and
• Prohibit reverse withdrawals.

A number of new Remote Technical Standards are proposed, which include:

1. The prevention of multiple slots games being played by a single account at the same time;
2. The prohibition of quick spin/‘turbo’ options, with spin times being limited to a minimum of 2.5 seconds from the time a game is started until a player can commence the next game cycle;
3. Operators must require a customer to commit to each game cycle individually, effectively prohibiting autoplay functionality; and
4. Games must be ‘designed to make it clear to consumers the distinction between true winning spins (an amount greater than total stake is returned) and other spins (an amount less than or equal to total stake returned).

The consultation closes on the 3rd September 2020 and the full background details and how to take part can be found here”.