The UK Gambling Commission announced recently that its joint regulatory effort with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has come to an end. However, it stated that its mission to improve standards will continue.
In a letter sent to gaming operators in the UK on April 29, both authorities praised the efforts and progress they had made. They state, “The CMA’s work with the Commission has resulted in significant changes by the sector. The impact of this work has been felt across the entire sector.” The UKGC believes that there need to be more changes in the industry, even as the partnership ends.
UKGC and CMA came together to handle suspected breaches of consumer protection laws. Their primary focus was on “fairness, transparency and the potential for consumers to be misled,” and was monitoring even the largest brands in the UK. Following investigations, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Progress Play, BGO, Jumpman Gaming, and PT Entertainment decided to make major changes to their operations.
The UKGC believes that other companies will also follow suit. It also warned that future breaches would not be tolerated by the authority. It said that more has to be done by the industry as many breaches had “undermined consumer trust and confidence.” The authority said that the operators need to audit all their terms and conditions apart from examining their business practices and systems to ensure compliance. It also suggests that the operators must keep reviewing them continually to ensure high standards of consumer protection in the future as well.
This strict warning by the UKGC aims to raise the standards of social responsibility in local operators. Last week, the authority launched a three-year plan to handle problems related to gambling in a faster and more efficient way. The industry’s biggest players have also come forward to reiterate their social responsibilities. William Hill has been tackling gambling-related issues, both at home and overseas. On the other hand, GVC Holdings has called for a complete ban on betting advertising in the country. The comments come appear when the authorities are planning a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling adverts during live events.
Barclays and the National Union of Students (NUS) are also joining the responsible gaming bandwidth. While the UK has still not achieved perfection, the situation is much better than it was a few years ago. Now that the gambling industry is moving forward to create more socially responsible behavior, there could finally be more progress.
