GB regulator readies new Social Responsibility Code
Gambling Commission to release consultation in coming weeks as part of previously announced plans to strengthen player protection measures
The Gambling Commission is preparing to launch a new Social Responsibility Code including the proposed universal self-exclusion scheme as it seeks to further increase its player protection requirements, eGaming Review has learned.
The regulator will kick-off a three-month consultation exercise in the coming weeks in which it will request feedback on proposals for a code which will incorporate the planned national self-exclusion scheme as part of changes to its licensing condition and codes of practice (LCCP).
“The requirement for Gambling Commission licensees offering online gambling products to participate in a national self-exclusion scheme would be achieved by the introduction of a new Social Responsibility Code,” a spokesperson for the Gambling Commission told eGR.
“This proposal will be included in our consultation on possible amendments to social responsibility provisions within LCCP which was always due to be launched in the summer,” the spokesperson added.
The development of a Social Responsibility Code comes as the result of a review into a possible strengthening of Great Britain-licensed operators’ social responsibility requirements, led by the regulator’s commissioner Rachel Lampard.
As well as the development of a new national self-exclusion scheme, the review also looked at the marketing of free bets and bonuses and the potential mandating of certain elements to the Association of British Bookmakers’ betting code.
The regulator said details of the new Social Responsibility Code should be made available in late autumn, however, an obligation to notify the European Commission of changes would prevent any measures from coming into force until H1 2015.
Some have questioned whether a nation-wide customer exclusion system would channel consumers into the arms of unregulated operators, however, the Remote Gaming Association, which is working on the development, recently defended the scheme.