Members and supporters of the British racing industry, led by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), have begun circulating a petition to “stop the implementation of betting affordability/financial risk checks,” CDC Gaming Reports reported November 5.
The person who initiated the petition is Nevin Truesdale, chief executive officer of the Jockey Club, the largest racecourse operated in the country.
The petition has already garnered more than 40,000 signatures.
Affordability checks are among many proposals to come out of the white paper review of the 2005 Gambling Act. The U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC) calls the proposal “unintrusive checks” that would be triggered by £125 net loss during a month, or £500 during a year. The commission also proposes reducing this limit by half for persons aged 18 to 24.
Such checks, the industry insists, would be “catastrophic” and might cause a £250 million downturn in lost betting revenue over the next five years. It declares, “We want the Government to abandon the planned implementation of affordability checks for some people who want to place a bet.”
The racing industry points out that it contributes £4 billion annually to the economy while creating 85,000 jobs. They argue that it will not remain a viable industry if customers feel their bets are being monitored daily.
Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes has gone on record repeatedly disputing such concerns and held out for criticism reports in the Racing Post that he called “imbalanced reporting.” He says the checks would only apply to 3 percent of gamblers and would consist of “light check” credit references or using Opening Banking data.
By law, the government must respond to any petition that has more than 10,000 signatures and must debate it in Parliament if there are more than 100,000 signatures.
