Britain’s Gambling Commission announces new regulations

Britain’s Gambling Commission announced new rules today aimed at increasing consumer safety in online gambling.

The announcement of the new rules coincides with the one-year anniversary of the government’s review of gambling legislation in the United Kingdom.

The new rules include financial vulnerability checks, marketing restrictions, and bans on certain in-game features and events.

“As a gambling regulator it’s vital that the introduction of new rules is based on evidence and takes into account the views of consumers and other interested parties,” said Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission.

“We have listened to the views expressed in our engagement and in the consultation responses, and we have made changes while still ensuring that we deliver meaningful protections.”

Financial risk assessment

The Commission will conduct a six-month pilot test to develop “frictionless” financial risk assessment rules for the highest spending online gaming accounts, working with credit reference agencies and gambling businesses and examining potential consumer impact.

The Commission will also explore the exact financial thresholds at which the assessments would be conducted.

Light touch financial checks

Beginning in September, online operators will have to conduct light touch financial checks on players with a net deposit of more than £500 a month. The checks will be solely based on publicly available data such as bankruptcy orders or history of unpaid debts.

The initial £500 threshold for these checks will be reduced to £150 from 28 February 2025.

New game design rules

These are aimed at reducing the speed and intensity of online games and extend requirements that already apply to slots to other online products. They ban autoplay functionality, any features which speed up the time for a result to be shown, and anything which can give the illusion of control, such as ‘turbo’ or ‘slam stops’.

Audio or visual celebrations of returns less than or equal to stake will also be banned, as will operator-led functionality which facilitates playing multiple simultaneous products such as roulette and blackjack tables. 

Operators will also have to ensure that no casino games have spin speeds of less than 5 seconds, excluding peer-to-peer poker, and that players are informed in real-time of their net spend and the time they have spent gambling.

These rules come into force on 17 January 2025.

Marketing

Online operators will be required to give customers options to opt-in to the product type they are interested in receiving marketing for and the channels through which they wish to receive it, with this rule also coming into force on 17 January 2025.

Retail

In the land-based sector, new age verification rules will require venue staff to check the age of any customer who appears to be under 25 years of age, rather than the current 21 years of age. The Commission will also introduce new rules requiring all land-based licensees, including smaller licensees, to carry out age verification test purchasing. This comes into force on 30 August 2024. Expanded licensing requirements for staff management roles will be introduced for personal management licences on 30 November.

Rhodes said the financial risk assessments and data collection pilot “will ensure that we can make informed decisions about how these assessments can be implemented in a way that supports both consumer freedom and protections.

“We have to get the balance right between protecting people from the potentially life-ruining effects of gambling-related harm and respecting the freedom of adults to engage in an activity that the vast majority do so without experiencing harm.”

Britain’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) also announced new rules Wednesday (1 May), launching a new voluntary industry Code on Customer Checks.

Developed in cooperation with the Gambling Commission, the new code will operate as a voluntary interim scheme until the government’s frictionless financial risk assessments are in place.

The voluntary code requires operators to undertake a risk assessment to determine whether markers of harm are being displayed when a customer attempts to make a net deposit of more than £5,000 in a rolling month, with the BGC stressing that customers will not be required to produce private financial documents.

Any customer depositing more than £25,000 in a rolling 12-month period will be subject to enhanced due diligence.

“This Code is good progress towards solving an issue that has generated such heated public debate. It will significantly increase the consistency of safer gambling standards while removing intrusive document checks for many who are currently subject to detailed checks,” said Michael Dugher, chief executive of the BGC.

“This should be particularly welcomed by British horseracing. It is vital to note that this new Code sits on top of a host of other safer gambling measures our members already conduct, and which only exist in the regulated sector.”

Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Today’s announcement of an interim code on customer checks is a major step forward, and will help ensure that we can continue to protect those at risk of gambling harm without penalising ordinary punters.

“Under the new interim code, there will be a reduction in the number of customers subject to the current inconsistent approach, as well as greater transparency and consistency across the sector. We welcome the work of industry to agree this voluntary code, and their contribution to the Gambling Commission’s recent consultation on financial risk checks.

“Over recent months we have been listening carefully to the views of industry, horse racing, campaigners, charities and ordinary punters. We are committed to a balanced approach, which respects the personal freedom of the many millions of people who gamble without issue, while protecting people from the potentially destructive impact of gambling addiction.

Frazer added: “While the interim code is a significant step, we know there is more to do, and the Gambling Commission is set to publish its response to the consultation on financial risk checks. This response will set out a new system of light-touch, frictionless financial vulnerability checks and a pilot of the enhanced risk assessments, and we remain committed to only bringing in these assessments if we are assured they will be genuinely frictionless for the vast majority of punters.”