The Gambling Minister revealed that gambling operators could be required to ask their customers for payslips in order to prevent losses punters could not afford.
Chris Philp, who took over the position in September and is currently overseeing a comprehensive review of the country’s gambling sector, cited a “moral obligation” of the companies to tackle problem gambling. He also outlined a number of proposals made by the Government, which indicate the authorities’ willingness to impose stricter measures on companies operating in the sector, with these restrictions expected to reduce the revenues of the UK gambling industry.
The CEO of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), Andrew Rhodes, supported the Minister’s opinion and added that some gambling companies were not complying with the rules and considered the regulatory monetary fines a form of tax rather than a penalty for their transgressions.
Speaking at the annual conference of GambleAware, Mr Philp shared that he had heard too many stories of people who lost large amounts of money they had not been actually able to lose, with no proper affordability checks being carried out by the gambling companies who had the available data at the time. The Gambling Minister said that he had also heard about gambling addicts becoming targets of direct marketing, special offers and VIP treatment by gambling operators, and this is not how the industry is supposed to operate.
UK Government’s White Paper on Proposed Gambling Industry Changes to Be Published in Early 2022
At the time he spoke at the UK charity organisation, which funds various programmes and initiatives to reduce problem gambling in the country, Mr Philp explained that a white paper outlining the proposals for changes in the local gambling sector by the Government is expected to be published early in 2022.
Mandatory affordability checks are likely to be included in these measures in order to prevent gambling companies from intervening only at times when a customer had already lost large sums of money. Minister Philp shared that demanding bank statements or payslips from every customer who spends £100 would probably be considered disruptive and disproportionate but he said there was a level at which such requirement was appropriate.
Furthermore, according to the Minister, data from credit rating agencies could be used as part of the efforts to make sure there were smooth initial affordability checks on punters who spent small sums of money, and more intrusive affordability checks when it comes to higher levels of spending. Mr Philp believes that the implementation of mandatory requirements for gambling companies to share data about people displaying signs of problem gambling was a matter of paramount importance.
Speaking at the annual conference of GambleAware, he also hinted that the UK gambling regulatory body would receive more money to improve its regulatory capacity. Minister Philp indicated that the UKGC could also get greater powers and would be able to analyse data received from gambling operators in bulk in order to make sure there was no exploitation of vulnerable people.
- Author
Daniel Williams
