The UKGC Strict Rules Become Stricter

Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Whether you’ve been tricked by false advertisement or heard of promotional terms that weren’t explained very clearly, you’ve probably wondered at one point or another if your customer interests are well taken care of at online gaming sites.

It is certain that if you’re a UK resident playing at a casino licensed by the UKGC, you’re light years ahead of other players in other countries simply because the huge casino market in the UK is regulated by the firm hand of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and their rule-abiding partners.

You probably are aware that obtaining a UKGC licence is no easy task. Well, keeping it once obtained is just as hard. UKGC are like a watchdog on constant alert for your player rights – they keep an eye on the iGaming industry on their own or through the many testing houses they work with.

A recent example is their voicing their concerns about the number of operators using unfair or misleading promotions to attract customers. The UKGC and their partner organisations addressed The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and initiated an investigation.

The governmental organisation for fair competition and markets will be inspecting the particular way promotional offers are worded and decide whether it may be contradictory or otherwise misleading. Also, the CMA will take the opportunity to consider the matter of cancelling bets and altering odds as these are a potential opportunity for users’ rights being violated. Finally, the CMA will investigate the chances gamers have for challenging an operator’s decision as these have been found by many to be quite limited.

Although gambling involves a risk of losing money by definition, it does not mean a player’s rights should be violated and the governmental laws for safety – broken. That’s why we’re looking forward to seeing the results of the thorough CMA investigation, the report of which is expected in early 2017.

But that’s not all the UKGC does to ensure your safe gaming. As of October 31, it has made amendments to its licence conditions and codes of practice aiming to better help prevent crimes that have to do with gambling. The changes introduce an anti-money laundering requirement. Moreover, the operators are instructed that they should take precautions that their ads don’t appear on sites that breach copyright laws and have clear procedures for handling cash. Finally, as part of the amendments, licensees are reminded that their employees should be required to report any suspicious betting patterns and they should not take part in those.

In an attempt to better serve its customers, the UKGC has announced its intention to revisit the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards, which were first published in 2007 and reviewed earlier this year. There is reportedly a need for the introduction of new live dealer and sports betting standards and standardisation of the use of third-party software. Currently, the Commission is open to proposals from industry members.