Coming into effect on the 12th September 2022, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has introduced new guidance requiring all remote licensed gambling operations to work to identify and intervene with any players thought to be at risk.
Online operators will be required by law to monitor certain indicators to identify gambling harms.
Companies will receive outlines of the guidance by June, which will detail the actions required by the Commission on customer care, business accountability, and player monitoring.
Online operators will be required to flag these certain indicators of harm and then take appropriate action to record indicators of at-risk players, all while ensuring that marketing materials will not impact at-risk customers.
The Commission will require operators to keep vigilant records to be able to provide evidence of customer interaction evaluation at all times.
Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of the UKGC stated: “Time and time again our enforcement cases show that some operators are still not doing enough to prevent gambling harm. These new rules, developed following an extensive consultation, make our expectations even more explicit.
We expect operators to identify and tackle gambling harms with fast, proportionate and effective action and we will not hesitate to take tough action on operators who fail to do so.”
These new customer care rules come alongside the Commission’s wider ongoing programme aimed at making Britain the safest and fairest gambling market available to customers. The next planned step in this programme of work will include steps to reduce financial harm to customers as well as better identify customer affordability.
The Commission has further said: “We will continue to work closely with DCMS and take account of the Government’s Gambling Act Review. Our broader programmes of work, focused on identifying customers at risk of harm will also continue, including close engagement with the BGC and ICO on the ‘single customer view’ pilot.”
