UKGC Lays Out Objectives in New Enforcement Report

Home » Poker News » UKGC Lays Out Objectives in New Enforcement Report

Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 | Written by Charles Washington

One of the UKGC’s main stated objectives is to ensure a fair, transparent and safe gambling environment for all British gamblers, especially in terms of consumer protection from potential gambling-related harm. One way in which this can be achieved is by gambling operators improving their customer interaction by more strictly adhering to guidelines laid out in the organization’s license conditions and codes of practice (LCCP).

Last month, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) subsequently released its latest enforcement report detailing the actions taken against gambling operators over the past 12 months. The regulator also emphasized the guidelines it expects gambling companies to follow going forward, including those related to money laundering, customer protection and self-exclusion, unfair terms and practices, and marketing and advertising. As Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the UKGC, stated at the time:

“We want operators to pay attention to the lessons set out in this report.. This is a call to action to the leaders of operators to set the tone from the top, to lead a culture of compliance that puts doing the right thing for your customers first, and to strive to continuously raise standards for consumers.”

Investigations and Fines

According to the Enforcement Report 2017-2018, the UKGC investigated 22 online casino operators last year, resulting in heavy fines against a number of firms for interaction failings, including Gala Interactive, 888 Gaming, Sky Betting & Gaming, and Tabcorp.

In addition, enforcement cases against illegal gaming sites has continued to increase over the past few years, rising from 40 unlicensed operators being shutdown in 2015, to 57 closures in 2016, and 61 in 2017.

Self-Exclusion

Of course, self-exclusion software offers an important means of providing players protection from problem gambling behavior. As revealed in the report, gambling firms are required to offer self-exclusion option to their customers, but this did not stop several firms last year from allowing self-excluded customers to keep on gambling on their sites despite their having taken advantage of the option. Amongst the operators punished for such transgressions over the past year are 888 (August 2017), Sky Betting & Gaming (March 2018), and Tabcorp (April 2018).

Marketing and Advertising

The UKGC has also been forced to take action against gambling companies running misleading advertising and marketing campaigns. As the report explains, the strategy in which gambling firms attempt to acquire and retain players are often misleading and potentially increase the number of players who subsequently become addicted to gambling. Counted amongst the offenders having hefty fines leveled against them for such breeches is BGO (April 2017), EU Lotto Limited (June 2017), Broadway Gaming (December 2017), and Electraworks (February 2018).

The watchdog further called upon local gambling operators to invest more money in improving customer protection systems, with McArthur stating:

“We also want gambling businesses to collaborate and to invest the same amount of resources into data, technology and research into building better protections for consumers, as they do to creating new products, or advertising and marketing campaigns.”

Human Contact

Picking up on an earlier point, the manner in which operators try to acquire and retain customers has come under increasing scrutiny from the industry regulator. In spite of all the benefits brought about by data analytics and technological tools, it is still deemed important that gambling operators maintain a diverse multi-pronged approach to their marketing campaigns, and do not underestimate the power of personal contact and the telephone in promoting player retention and reactivation.

“Having a particular operator show an interest in them can sometimes be all an inactive player needs as an incentive to return, even if they are betting and gaming elsewhere,” commented Mikael Hansson, CEO of Enteractive, a company specializing in providing player retention services.

Combating Gambling by Children

Almost at the same time as the the UKGC released its Enforcement Report, the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) took the opportunity to set out its list of recommendations for the government and gambling firms to implement in order to protect children from accessing and being exposed to gambling.

Entitled ‘Gambling, children and young people: A case for action’, the study highlighted gambling trends noted in the UK’s ‘young persons’ (under 18) category, noting that roughly 0.9% of children in the UK between the ages of 11-15, or around 31,000 children, are considered to be problem gamblers. The RGSB believes that an additional 45,000 children in the age group are potentially ‘at-risk’ of developing problem gambling problems.

Finally, the study points out that parents, families and teachers should play a role in tackling the situation if a meaningful and lasting impact is to be achieved. This includes holding public debates on the issue, especially as regards the status of gambling in society, and how to best protect young people from gambling related harm. Needless to say, the government has an important part to play in encouraging the whole process, and as stated in the RGSB study:

“.. the Gambling Commission rightly notes, this requires support from a range of Government departments and other agencies to recognize gambling-related harms is a health issue that deserves our full attention.”