Gambling Bill enters final parliamentary stage
Point of consumption regulation Bill has its report and third reading today ahead of progression to the House of Lords
The controversial Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill enters the final stages of its parliamentary audit today before it is passed to the House of Lords for final approval.
The Bill, which will see the UK move to a point of consumption regime, will require all operators wishing to take bets from consumers or advertise their services in the UK to apply for a new licence. Today’s events will see the Bill go through both the parliamentary report and third reading process before being moved to the upper house.
If passed, regulation is expected to come into effect on 1 May 2014 while a separate tax regime currently proposed at 15% gross gaming revenue, is due to follow in December 2014.
The substance of the proposed regulations has been hotly debated since its first reading in the House of Commons back in May this year, and last week saw MPs vote against 16 separate amendments to the Bill made by Labour’s shadow sports minister Clive Efford.
Earlier this month, the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association chief executive Peter Howitt described the proposals as “terrible” and “damaging” to the industry when called to give oral evidence during the committee stage.
Howitt also confirmed the Association and its members, which is comprised of more than 20 operators including William Hill, 888 Holdings and Gala Coral, are considering lodging a judicial challenge to the Bill, however, this cannot be actioned until it is given Royal Assent which is expected in late January.
Last week eGaming Review revealed that the Commission was preparing for the “likely” scenario that it will be unable to process operator applications in time for the start of the new point of consumption regulatory regime.