British regulator introduces social responsibility measures
Gambling industry must do "much more" to make gambling safe, online nationwide self-exclusion system to be introduced in 2017
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has published a series of new social responsibility measures including universal self-exclusion in order to “significantly strengthen” the licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP).
The publication follows a major review into the UK’s gambling industry conducted last year, with the Commission concluding that the industry must do “much more to make gambling safe”.
New measures to be introduced include a universal online self-exclusion scheme to be in place by 2017 and the requirement that online operators provide ‘time-out’ features that enable players to take a break from gambling.
While a universal self-exclusion policy has been criticised by some, the proposal was broadly welcomed by operators during the consultation exercise, with their responses made public by the Commission.
Gala Coral said it would support the scheme but that it required participation from the National Lottery, while William Hill said the system would require the participation of every UK licensed operator or it would be “ineffective”.
Operators must also offer an on-screen timer so that gamblers can check their playing time and spending and ‘reality check’ notices must be displayed for customers wishing to raise their bet limits, something which operators have also largely supported.
Ladbrokes said reality checks were “entirely sensible” however Betfair argued that a further reality check warning was unnecessary if customers still wished to raise their limits after a cooling-off period had elapsed.
Also included were a range of measures to ensure marketing and advertising is socially responsible with ‘free bet’ offers of particular interest.
Concerns over free bet advertising were highlighted in the Advertising Standards Authority’s review into gambling advertising published in October, while members of the Senet Group have now stopped all free bet advertising before the UK’s 9pm watershed.
“The work we have done through the review represents a significant strengthening of the social responsibility measures in the LCCP,” Gambling Commission chair Philip Graf said.