The UK Gambling Commission has urged gambling operators to step up the process of placing customers at the center of their business decisions. The country’s gambling regulator seems to be planning to introduce more severe penalties for those who fail to comply with its requirements.
The call came from Sarah Harrison, Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission. Ms. Harrison was among the speakers at the inaugural Raising Standards Conference, held in Birmingham. Speaking on behalf of fellow commissioners, she said that it is their intention to turn the UK gambling industry into the world’s “most trusted sector.”
According to Ms. Harrison operators have already invested serious funds and efforts to advance in areas related to the reduction of gambling-related harm and effective gambling management tools. However, she believes that even more can be done and should be done.
The Gambling Commission suggested UK-facing companies focus on three main areas to raise standards in and thus provide customer-centric offering, with those areas being social responsibility, fair customer treatment, and money laundering prevention.
In terms of social responsibility, Ms. Harrison noted that operators should make sure that they are working towards the prevention of gambling-related harm and not just trying to cope with a problem that has already occurred. Transparency and focus on consumers throughout the whole gambling journey were other aspects listed by the gambling official as particularly important ones.
As for the fair customer treatment, UK’s gambling regulator has been informed over the years about customers’ concerns regarding self-exclusion, funds withdrawal, questionable terms and conditions, and controversial marketing. The Commission has repeatedly pointed out that it expects from operators to constantly make customer-friendly improvements in those four areas.
Last but not least, Ms. Harrison urged UK-facing providers of gambling options to “raise [their] game”
In order to make sure that its voice has been heard, the UK Gambling Commission is planning to implement stricter measures in the form of bigger penalties for those who have failed to comply with its requirements. And repeated violators may even have their licenses revoked by the Commission.
The regulator’s latest recommendations came in the midst of a governmental probe into Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and their impact on customers as well as into the way gambling products are advertised on television. A Call for Evidence period commenced on October 24 and gambling operators will be required to provide information related to the above-mentioned probe until December 4.
