The UK gambling market is with no doubt among the most strictly regulated ones in the world. A Competition and Markets Authority’s probe into the way UK-facing operators present customers with essential information has become the latest proof to the above statement.
Following multiple concerns voiced by the UK Gambling Commission and other involved parties, the CMA has approached a number of gambling companies, requesting from them information that would come as evidence of whether they create and administer unfair and misleading promotions to attract players.
As it seems, it is not a rarity that gambling customers complain about questionable wording used in terms regarding promotions, winnings withdrawal, and related matters. It is is the CMA’s main goal to find enough evidence whether these arguments are true and whether further action should be taken against UK-facing operators.
UK’s main competition and consumer authority is working closely with the Gambling Commission so as to try to detect any violations of the consumer law, with such violations potentially including misleading promotions and unfair terms.
CMA said in its statement from earlier today that it is concerned that players may be losing substantial amounts of money and be prevented from withdrawing their winnings in a manner they find fit for three main reasons.
In the first place, concerns have been voiced that gambling customers may be presented with terms and requirements composed in a roundabout way. These may be too difficult to comprehend or to achieve and may lock players into playing longer before being able to withdraw any money, for instance.
It has become a common practice for operators to cancel bets or to change odds after bets had been placed. This usually happens when a mistake has been made at the time odds were first determined. The CMA said that it would look carefully into the matter to decide whether terms relied on by operators when canceling bets or altering odds were fair.
Last but not least, terms that provide players with limited opportunities to challenge a given operator’s decision would also fall under CMA’s scrutiny, as the authority said in today’s statement.
Updates on the probe are expected to be posted early in 2017, as the CMA believes it would have collected enough data to judge on by that time.
Gambling essentially involves risk, but the provision of this type of services should not break the law, both Gambling Commission Chief Executive Sarah Harrison and CMA Senior Director for Consumer Enforcement Nish Arora argued. This is why the two organizations they represent have joined forces to investigate into whether gambling operators offer fair terms and conditions or are violating consumer protection regulations.
According to official data, the UK iGaming industry has grown 146% for the past seven years and that there are now more than 5.5 million UK residents to be gambling on sports betting and gaming websites. An initial review of the nation’s £4-billion online gaming market has indeed showed that operators may be treating players in somewhat unfair manner.
Gambling companies are often scolded by the Advertising Standards Authority for marketing initiatives with complex, confusing, and unsuitable wording, and lack of enough information about a given promotion.
