UKGC Extends Problem Gambling Public Consultation Process To Feb 9
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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) launched a problem gambling public consultation process in November. The digitally launched consultation campaign was set to last for four weeks and looked to gather direct feedback from all gambling stakeholders with a special emphasis on players.
UKGC Happy With Feedback
The UKGC was specifically looking to get direct feedback from players who were consistently active with the online gambling industry. The gambling watchdog said that the feedback in the last three weeks has been very strong and as a result, they decided to extend the consultation period till Feb 9, 2021.
Britain has struggled in recent years to find solutions to address the growing rise of problem gamblers in the country. While the online gambling industry in the UK has grown significantly, it has also resulted in an increase in gambling addiction in both children and adults.
Gambling opponents have criticized the UKGC and the UK government for failing to do more to protect Brits from problem gambling. The UKGC in recent years has experimented with different strategies to try and reduce problem gambling in the country.
Most of those experiments involved the gambling commission and iGaming operators working together to put in place process and procedures to protect players. The UKGC decided to change things up with the launch of the public consultation process on gambling harm.
Players To Suggest What Is Best For Them
The public consultation process on gambling harm will look to get direct input from players and get their ideas on what the UKGC and iGaming operators can do to offer them better protection from gambling harm.
The UKGC in the past has not been happy with licensed iGaming operators because the gambling watchdog felt that many licensed operators had procedures in place to provide better protection to their players but were not enforcing these procedures.
Critics of the online gambling industry have disagreed with this assessment by the UKGC. They claim that the UKGC is the one to blame for being too liberal with iGaming operators and giving into the powerful gambling industry. The UKGC has responded in recent months by being more severe on iGaming operators who fail to comply with gaming regulations by issuing record fines and even suspending their licenses.
The public consultation process is to get players to define and share their views on what standards and procedures they want to see at online casinos. The Commission will collate this detailed feedback and then use it as proof to get iGaming operators to toe the line and make changes in their policies if required.