Customer Complaints against gambling companies in the UK have grown from 169 in 2013 to 8,266 in 2018 according to a recent UK report.
The figures were obtained by BBC Panorama from the UK Gambling Commission. The report said a major amount of the complaints come from problem gamblers who put themselves on self-exclusion list yet are still frequently solicited by gambling companies.
The commission says it has been actively trying to force the industry to better protect problem gamblers.
“We are pushing the industry to know its customers, and part of this is actually, possibly, a good sign because it’s suggesting that consumers are demanding more of the gambling operators,” Neil McArthur, the chief executive of the Gambling Commission told the Guardian newspaper. “And I would encourage them to continue to do that.”
Last month, the commission fined Ladbrokes Coral £5.9 million for “systemic failings” at the company to protect problem gamblers who lost large amounts of money.
The UK’s top five gambling firms have offered to increase voluntary funding for addiction treatment to raise £60 million a year to help problem gamblers.
