The UK Gambling Commission and the country’s Competition and Markets Authority has issued a call for gambling firms to work harder to meet advertising standards.
The call, issued as a joint letter, follows a program between the two regulators which investigated suspected breaches of consumer protection law in the gambling industry. That program addressed changes implemented by six operators following previous advice from the CMA.
Ladbrokes, William Hill, PT Entertainment, BGO, Jumpman Gaming and Progress Play have all committed “not to continue or repeat certain practices which the CMA considered were unfair. But the impact of this work has been felt across the entire sector,” the joint letter said.
“Our joint work provided a sharp focus on aspects of online gambling and exposed significant shortcomings within the sector that had undermined consumer trust and confidence,” it said. “However, for you to comply fully with your consumer law and licensing responsibilities, you must go further than simply complying with the published undertakings. You need to audit all your terms and conditions, examine your business systems and practices, embed compliance and, importantly, continually review these to ensure that you maintain high standards of consumer protection in the future.”
The CMA and UKGC stressed that, more still needs to be done in order to maintain consumer trust.
“Making changes to promotions and withdrawal practices is an important start, but it is only one aspect of achieving compliance. More needs to be done by the sector to win back consumer trust. The best operators going forward will be those who lead by example, build on the work undertaken by the CMA and treat their customers fairly and responsibly.”
The Gambling Commission has also published a three-year strategy to reduce gambling harm saying it will coordinate with UK health bodies, charities, communities, regulators and wider businesses on tackling problem gambling.
The new strategy emphasizes:
- Prevention and Education—making significant progress towards a clear public health prevention plan which includes the right mix of interventions.
- Treatment and Support—delivering truly national treatment and support options that meet the needs of users.
The commission is also exploring the creation of a National Research Center on problem gambling and the development of a National Data Repositor for research purposes.
“This new strategy will provide us and our partners the opportunity to make faster progress to reduce gambling harms. It will not just benefit the health and wellbeing of those directly affected and in need of support, but also those such as friends, families, communities and wider society,” said William Moyes, chairman of the Gambling Commission. “The success of this strategy relies on everyone working together to reduce gambling harms through prevention and education, and treatment and support. Everyone has a role to play to combat gambling harms and I’m delighted that the health sector, charities and businesses are showing their commitment to get behind the strategy and make it a success”.
