Over the past few years, online gambling has gone through a huge growth spurt, with more and more players placing bets on their favourite digital games. It’s become an integral part of the UK’s whole gambling industry. However, with this being the case, the regulatory body of the country – the Gambling Commission – is now looking to make things a lot safer than they’ve ever been for players.
Following a look into the current state of the UK gambling market – more so the online side of things – the Commission has published its own review of the sector. This also highlights the changes that the organisation is intending to make in order to make sure that avid players are safe and secure against various threats. But first, a little bit about the facts uncovered by the Commission in its latest report.
The profits made by the gambling industry in 2017 increased by a total of 10%, hitting a record high of £4.7 billion for the year. Not only that, but the number of people who have chosen to participate in online gambling over the past three years has also increased, by 3% altogether. Altogether, almost 9 million people from the UK engaged in placing bets at online platforms, including casinos, bingo sites and more. These figures have prompted the Gambling Commission to do something about the fairness and safety of online gambling for such a vast amount of people.
Proposals for Change
The alterations that the Gambling Commission aim to incorporate are said to be aimed primarily at the protection of minors. Therefore, the focus is on minimising any dangers towards these people, as well as safeguarding any vulnerable players. The list of changes that the Commission has set forth include:
- Ensure there is enhanced regulation relating to the online gambling market.
- Protect minors by suspending any casino operator that allow free play and demo gameplay without first ascertaining and confirming a player’s age.
- Improve upon the speed by which an operator completes the age verification process.
- Incorporate “affordability checks” to allow customers to limit their betting.
- Improve upon customer interaction options for addressing complaints.
- Evaluate new advertising standards to ensure that gambling isn’t promoted or indeed advertised as a way of being able to make money.
- Review gambling product features in order to restrict any sort of characteristic that could be related to dangers of gambling.
- Check over if gambling should be permitted on credit within the United Kingdom
At the moment, there are multiple casino sites in the United Kingdom that stick to all of the rules and regulations set out by the Gambling Commission. So, it’s not as though you can’t already find appealing and licensed platforms to gamble at. However, with the proposed improvements to the regulations, the Commission looks to have player wellbeing at hand on several levels. Time will tell whether or not these changes are able to serve their purpose.
