The Changes in Gambling Legislation We Might See This Year
The UK government have been talking about the gambling reform for several years now, and 2022 is the year that it finally looks set to happen. The gambling reform brings a new perspective on protecting consumers from gambling-related harm – the bill aims to tackle excessive advertising that takes advantage of loopholes in the laws as well as out of date regulations that don’t govern social media. So, what are the exact changes that we could see happening as the reform takes place?
Sporting Events
The first area for reform is the issue around advertising at sports events – the particular focus has been on football matches but the reform would affect all sports.
TV advertising has always been subject to restrictions, with products and services that are only suitable for those over 18s banned from advertising until after 9 pm. The issue with this, however, is that gambling companies were able to find a loophole in the regulations. If a bookmaker sponsors a team or stadium then their logo is free to be plastered along pitch hoardings and on team uniforms before the watershed at 9 pm. This has exposed minors and vulnerable people to gambling advertisements when they would usually be able to avoid them.
One of the new laws will ban front of shirt advertising, but many critics have argued that this simply isn’t effective enough. Bookmakers and casinos would still be allowed to advertise on the back of the team’s uniform and on pitch hoardings, so the front of shirt advertising ban makes very little difference.
A Change in Online Betting
One thing that’s expected to go ahead is a new tighter limit on how much punters will be able to stake when playing on online casinos to bring the regulations in line with those on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) where the maximum single bet was reduced from £100 to £2. In addition to the new lower limit, we’re likely to see a ban on “speed spins” – this is the practice where a customer can set all of their spins to be played automatically – it stops at the end of the turns that the customer has set up, or when the money has run out. It’s thought that the practice of speed spins makes it easier for customers to spend more money than they realise, increasing the potential of getting into debt. The limit on the speed of play will limit how many spins a punter is able to make per minute, reducing how much they can spend in an hour.
There are a number of legislations in place and rules surrounding online gaming in the UK – for example, prize odds must be displayed and so must how long a player has been playing on a particular game. Gambling on things like slot machines online might very well be a game of chance but rules in place make sure that these games are fair and that you do have a chance of winning. As such, casino offers like these are regularly checked and scrutinised to ensure they comply with the standards set out by the government; a way to keep players both happy and safe. After all, without these rules casinos could offer all manner of prizes and not actually give them away or make them impossible to win and that doesn’t make for happy customers, nor does it encourage responsible betting. Instead, it encourages players to part with their hard-earned money with little chance of ever coming away successful.
Will Affordability Checks Be Bought in?
One of the more controversial reforms that MPs are considering is the possibility of enhanced affordability checks. Gambling with credit cards was made illegal in 2019, but at the moment only a soft credit check is undertaken to ensure that a player can afford to gamble and isn’t in masses of debt. This was calculated on credit score and crucially the search didn’t show up in a credit history check because it was only a soft search. If a more in-depth credit check is carried out then gambling companies will appear on a user’s credit history which could affect a player’s ability to be approved for a mortgage, even if they have an excellent credit score. While enhanced affordability checks would help to prevent problem gambling, it could also affect users who genuinely only play once in a blue moon for fun.
Other planned topics of discussion for the reform will include introducing a mandatory levy on the profit that bookmakers and casinos bring in, with the revenue from this levy going to fund treatment for problem gamblers.
Are Games Too Addictive?
Finally, another major point of the reform is a potential testing regime for new products and games, which would involve proving that they’re not too addictive before they’re allowed to be made available to the wider market. Changes to gambling regulations over recent years have often been geared towards encouraging safer gambling and ensuring that vulnerable players are protected. We know that gambling can be addictive and it is a hobby that people should only do when they can afford it, but that is not always the case – which is where checks for how addictive a game is could be bought into play. We have already seen changes in terms of what games can announce as a win and how quickly games can be played out which were changes bought in late in 2021, another nod to protecting players and making sure those that choose to bet do so responsibly.
Currently, there is a lot of speculation around what the gambling reform could include – the reality is that the information hasn’t been made publicly available. We know that the government will look at spending limits, advertising, affordability checks and ways to protect people from gambling-related harm because it’s what the government have said that will do. As for any other points of discussion, it’s a case of wait and see.
