UK Players Invited to Give Proposals to Improve Online Gambling

This week the UK Gambling Commission has been quite busy trying to improve online gambling in the United Kingdom. Namely, two days ago the authority has led a workshop in Manchester focused on making gambling safer and free from crime.

Additionally, today the Commission has published a call to consumers, gambling operators and members of the public to give proposals on improving children protection and keeping gambling fair and safe. Moreover, this step comes days after the UKGC has demanded UK gambling operators to remove any unfair withdrawal restrictions from their operating policies.

Everyone is Invited to Voice Their Opinion

According to the announcement on the UKGC website, everyone is invited to voice their opinion on the proposed changes to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. Those familiar with this document know that its main focus is on strengthening the protection of children as well as providing safe and fair environment to players.

More precisely, the proposed rules would introduce new requirements to gambling businesses. Namely, these would have to verify age of customers even before they are allowed to make a deposit or access free-play games. Moreover, operators would have to verify the identity of the consumer before allowing them to use their games. Finally, gambling operators would have to make sure that the user’s identity matches the name of the holder of the provided payment method.

Commenting on the announcement, the Programme Director of the Gambling Commission Brad Enright has highlighted that their aim “is to protect children, reduce gambling-related harm and keep gambling fair and crime-free.” Additionally, he encouraged everyone to voice their opinion on the proposed measures in order to come up with as good solutions as possible.

Workshop in Manchester Focuses on Making Gambling Safer and Crime-Free

Two days ago, the UKGC announced that it would run a workshop in Manchester focused on making gambling safer and crime-free. This workshop is going to be only one in a serios of workshops to be held across the country; they are targeting smaller licensed gambling operators. Some of the invited entities include betting, arcade and bingo operators in the region.

According to the information provided by the authority, topics of interest would be tackling money laundering, compliance findings, local risk assessments and helping gamblers stay safe by using the provided self-exclusion tools.

One very interesting focus point is local risk assessment. Namely, this should help gambling businesses consider issues such as proximity to schools and/or homeless shelters. On the other hand, the self-exclusion programme targets consumers and their options to stop taking part in gambling.

According to Helen Venn, the Gambling Commission’s Executive Director of the Compliance and Licensing Department, their main goal is “raising standards” across the gambling industry. Moreover, they aim to “shape a well-regulated gambling market” that works not only for the operators but for the consumers too.

In the past few years the UKGC has taken its role very seriously and the authority has been constantly introducing new and stricter rules for operators. Moreover, the Commission has also issued several massive fines to gambling businesses ignoring their guidelines.