Italian regulator unveils universal self-exclusion programme

Italian regulator AAMS has launched a nationwide self-exclusion programme for at-risk consumers after industry stakeholders urged the government to modernise its responsible gambling provisions.

The new system will allow customers to sign a single online form, barring them from every licensed online gaming operator in Italy, instead of having to make individual blocking requests for each site.

Each operator is then obliged to immediately shut down the player’s account and register their details with the self-exclusion programme.

Consumers can self-exclude indefinitely or for a fixed period of up to six months under the new legislation which is supported by Italian state financial auditor SOGEI.

The new self-exclusion register will cover all Italian gambling operations and forms part of the government’s ongoing strategy to modernise Italy’s online gambling framework.

The strategy was initiated after Milan University’s Gaming Observatory warned legislators that current gambling provisions were targeted at Italy’s older gambling consumers.

The Observatory argued that new rules targeted at mobile gaming consumers between the ages of 18 and 25 needed to be introduced after Italian gaming revenues surpassed €1.3bn in 2017.

The UK’s own national self-exclusion register, GAMSTOP,  is due to be up and running in Spring 2018.