New regulatory measures for online gamblers who lose more than ￡500 per month

Lea Hogg May 9, 2024

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New regulatory measures for online gamblers who lose more than ￡500 per month

In another initiative to protect vulnerable customers, the UK Gambling Commission has confirmed a series of measures that will impose additional checks on online gamblers who lose ￡500 or more per month, starting from August.

The threshold for these additional checks will be reduced to ￡150 of online betting losses per month from 28 February of the following year. Furthermore, certain features of online casinos and poker platforms that give players an illusion of control, including “turbo” and “slam stops”, will be banned from 17 January. This ban also extends to autoplay and sounds and visuals that celebrate returns less than or equal to the stake.

These measures follow the publication of a government white paper on gambling reform last year, which proposed a mandatory levy to fund addiction treatment, education, and research, as well as affordability checks and new online slot machine limits.

Impact on Gamblers

From August, operators will use publicly available data to identify customers who might be financially vulnerable. This includes those subject to bankruptcy orders or with a history of unpaid debts. Gambling companies could encourage customers deemed to be at risk from harm to set a deposit limit, or in more extreme cases, limit the amount the customer spends or close their account entirely.

The regulator also announced a pilot of financial assessments for customers at risk of losing large amounts in a short time. The aim is to reduce instances of rapid financial loss.

Charles Ritchie and his wife (in photo above), the co-founders of Gambling with Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide and campaigns for change, said that intervention needs to be early and effective. Carolyn Harris, a Labour MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on gambling-related harm, said that the proposals were a step in the right direction, but that stronger action was needed on gambling sponsorship and marketing.

Andrew Rhodes, the chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said the rules were being introduced after a consultation process with customers and other parties. He emphasized the need to balance 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.