UK Gambling Commission Reveals New Regulatory Strategy

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Thursday, November 23rd, 2017 | Written by Adam Brown

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) recently released its new strategy for regulating gambling in the country over the next few years, with the 28-page report it published entitled “Strategy 2018-2021: Making Gambling Fairer and Safer”.

The study subsequently addressed the challenges the UK is expected to face in the near future, especially as the number of people currently gambling in the United Kingdom has reached record heights, with one of the report’s main priorities being the growing sense of mistrust consumer feel towards gambling operators, which has dropped by a third from 49% in 2008 to its current level of just 34%.

Near-Future Agenda

The UKGC formulated its near-future agenda based upon this growing concern, even though at present its ideas might appear more idealistic than realistic. In the report, the UKGC outlines a five-pronged plan to bring bad operators to task, while also boosting overall consumer confidence in the industry. Here’s a look at the main points of interest:

– Protecting consumer interests: the Commission will expect operators to protect consumers and offer them a safer playing environment, with harsh sanctions to be levied on those operators who fail in this regard.

– Preventing consumers from harm: the Commission expects consumers to be given additional information about gambling and the risks involved, along with better controls for managing their gambling habits.

– Raising gambling market standards: the Commission expects effective arrangements to be put in place for resolving customer complaints and other disputes.

– Optimizing returns from lotteries to good causes: the Commission is to regulate the National Lottery in such a way as to provide a healthier product for consumers and good causes alike, with a new license to be granted in 2023.

– Improving Commission regulation: the Commission is to improve how it taps into the issues faced by consumers and the public in order to make more informative choices. While the Commission will help the industry comply with regulations, it will also take any necessary precautionary action whenever required, and give independent advice to the government on the impact of gambling.

Record Adult Gambling

Around 63% of adults in the UK gamble, according to studies carried out by the UKGC; meaning that the industry has definitely now entered the mainstream. While dedicated gambling sites, including online betting, may attract a smaller audience of around 20% of the market, this is one of the areas in which regulatory bodies such as the UKGC are most needed. In fact, the UKGC report itself notes that it exists to protect consumers and the public by ensuring gambling remains safe and fair.

Ensuring a Transparent Industry

One of the social missions of the UKGC is in dealing with gamblers who exhibit addictive or problematic behavior likely to harm them and those around them. Nevertheless, the report details that the Commission is also focusing on ensuring the industry’s transparency and fairness, with the UKGC having issued a number of regulatory actions against operators in recent years over consumer protection issues. There’s no doubt the UKGC stands by its word, too, and given the tone of the report, it’s likely many such regulatory actions will be forthcoming in the future until violators adjust themselves to match the expectations of the UKGC accordingly.

Commenting upon its revised strategy going forwards, Bill Moyes, Chairman of the Gambling Commission, explained: “This is an ambitious strategy to deliver fairer and safer gambling over the next three years. We can only be successful in this by engaging with consumers and by working closely with all our regulatory partners and the industry. In the same way that this strategy challenges the industry, we also challenge ourselves – as the regulator – to deliver effective, targeted and innovative regulation.”

Final Thoughts

The UKGC has some wonderful and ambitious ideas about challenging the industry in order to improve standards, but only time will tell if it all works out well. The gambling industry has proven itself similar to other industries as far as regulatory compliance is concerned, and this basically means that operators governed by the UKGC will comply to the point they feel necessary so as to avoid being hit with strict penalties. Naturally, some operators will continue to skirt the edges of acceptability, but whether the overall effect will be to damage consumer confidence further remains to be seen. Eventually, however, a new equilibrium will ultimately present itself as regulatory re-pacing advances.