A cross-party group of UK MPs, led by Labour MP Carolyn Harris, Duncan Smith from the Conservatives and the SNP’s Ronnie Cowan, has released a report demanding an urgent “root and branch” overhaul of gambling law.
The lengthy report, due to be published this week, follows a six-month enquiry into gambling-related harm. Among the numerous recommendation included in the report, a £2 limit on online slot machines, a ban on credit card deposits, restrictions on VIP segmentation, and an investigation into NDA practices by operators.
The enquiry even takes aim at the UK Gambling Commission and GambleAware for failing in their duty to protect online casino players.
The all-party parliamentary group (AAPG) affirms that it is time to change the Gambling Act 2005, an “analogue legislation in a digital age”, no longer suited to regulating an online sector that pulls over £5bn a year. The MPs believe they have a good chance of influencing gambling policy, regardless of the outcome of the next general election.
The MPs also push for the introduction of mandatory affordability checks to make sure customers don’t get into financial difficulty.
Duncan Smith, the vice-chair of the APPG, commented: “It is outrageous that operators are able to continue to offer inducements to the vulnerable without proper sanctions.”
Carolyn Harris, who oversaw the report, cornered the industry’s regulator, the Gambling Commission, saying it was not fit for purpose in the age of internet gambling and required greater powers to sanction companies.
A spokesperson for the UKGC replied saying: “We are disappointed that this report has been released before we have been given the chance to give evidence”, adding: “The report does not reflect our considerable action and progress on most of the areas of concern.”
Brigid Simmonds OBE, the chair of the Betting and Gaming Council, also commented saying that gambling companies were “committed to ensuring a safe gambling experience for all customers, using the wide range of tools that online operators have at their disposal, and continuing to invest significantly in new technology to make full use of data and algorithms to identify risk of harm and interact with customers at an early stage.”
The report highlights that gambling companies have not been able to tell MPs what level of gambling they considered affordable, and therefore could not reliably intervene when customers are losing dangerous amounts.
Asking for simplified T&Cs and calling for online firms to improve their systems to identify vulnerable people, the report also urged companies to increase protections of children.
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