Gambling companies will be obliged to increase checks on customers who are sustaining unaffordable losses as part of new gambling reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plans, which will be triggered when a gambler loses \u00a31,000 within 24 hours, or \u00a32,000 over a 90 day period, were outlined in the UK Government\u2019s gambling White Paper published on Thursday April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other measures in the document include maximum stakes for online slot machines of between \u00a32 and \u00a315 for all customers subject to consultation and a new statutory levy that will see gambling companies funding research, education and treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gambling Commission will conduct background checks at moderate levels of spending to check for indicators of \u201cfinancial vulnerability\u201d including county court judgments. The UK Government have proposed that those initial checks begin at net losses of \u00a3125 a month or \u00a3500 within a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At higher spending levels, which may point to harmful binge gambling or continued unaffordable losses, the government have stated that there must be a more detailed appriasal of a customer\u2019s financial situation. The threshold for this has been set at a \u00a31,000 net loss within 24 hours or \u00a32,000 within 90 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer stated that the reforms, which cover \u201csix key areas\u201d, would protect vulnerable customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFirstly, we want to tackle some of the challenges unique to online gambling\u2026we are going to force companies to step up their checks on when losses are likely to be unaffordable or harmful for punters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCompanies already have to intervene when they know a customer is spending vast sums, but this change will better-protect those least able to afford even small losses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 1% mandatory levy on industry revenues<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tougher affordability checks to prevent huge losses<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Online slot machine stakes capped at between \u00a32 and \u00a315<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curbing \u201cfree spin\u201d and \u201cbonus\u201d offers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Measures to slow down online casino games<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More resources for the Gambling Commission<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plans for a gambling ombudsman<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frazer also announced a new statutory levy will see gambling companies required to fund more groundbreaking research, education and treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking about the new statutory levy which will see gambling companies be required to fund research, education and treatment Fraser said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one should be denied an innocent flutter, but the public should not have to bear the cost of treatment when a punter becomes an addict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cone of the important changes\u2026will be a new statutory levy to turn the tables on problem gambling, one that sees gambling companies required to fund more groundbreaking research, education and treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She continued: \u201cWe need a new approach that recognises a flutter is one thing, unchecked addiction is another. So, today we are bringing our pre-smartphone regulations into the present day with a gambling white paper for the digital age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ladbrokes owner Entain has welcomed the publication of the Government\u2019s gambling white paper and said it has already implemented a number of actions linked to the new proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entain\u2019s chief executive officer said: \u201cThe UK Gambling Act Review is an important step towards having a robust regulatory framework that is fit for the digital age and creates a level playing field for all operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe welcome the clarity that it will bring to the industry and customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter Entertainment, whose brands include Paddy Power and Betfair, said: \u201cWe welcome the publication of the White Paper, which marks a significant moment for the UK gambling sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhilst we will need to review the detail of the proposals once published, we believe proactive change will lead to a better future for our industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gambling companies will be obliged to increase checks on customers who are sustaining unaffordable losses as part of new gambling reforms. The plans, which will be triggered when a gambler loses \u00a31,000 within 24 hours, or \u00a32,000 over a 90 day period, were outlined in the UK Government\u2019s gambling White Paper published on Thursday April…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":28078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[590],"tags":[645],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4733"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24523,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4733\/revisions\/24523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}