Major operators oppose GBGA Gambling Bill challenge

William Hill, bet365 and Ladbrokes are among a number of high-profile operators not supporting the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s (GBGA) attempts to force the UK Government and Gambling Commission to urgently review its new Gambling Bill.

The GBGA, which boasts 20-plus members, gave the UK Government 14 days in which to respond to its request that the Gambling Bill undergoes an urgent review pending legal action earlier this week, as reported in eGaming Review.

However William Hill said in a statement it had “chosen not to challenge the Government’s decision to impose dual regulation on the online gambling industry.”

Bet365, which is based in the UK but has gaming operations in Gibraltar, is also understood to not be supporting the judicial review.

“Our original concerns regarding the distortive effects on the market and the inadequacy of enforcement mechanisms, remain,” a Hills spokesperson told UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

The firm, whose online operations are based in Gibraltar, said it wanted the UK government to “strike the correct balance between overlapping regulation and enforcement” by setting an appropriate tax rate.

A spokesperson from Ladbrokes also confirmed to eGR that the operator would not be supporting the action despite regulatory worries. “Our concerns remain however over whether regulatory enforcement is strong enough and the risk that a relatively high tax rate that gives a competitive advantage to unregulated operators,” the spokesperson said.

The GBGA has long been critical of the regulatory framework, which was passed into law on 15 May and sets out to regulate and license the online gambling industry on a point of consumption basis.

The new regulatory regime, should it go ahead, will be coupled with a 15% point of consumption tax on operators’ UK-derived profits from 1 December.