A couple of weeks ago, the UK court decided that the end of September is the time when the discussion of the new UK gambling regulations will take place. It became clear that the implementing actions have been postponed because the conclusion of the Gibraltar’s Betting and Gaming Association, concerning the regulations the United Kingdom is willing to impose, is not certain yet.
Last Thursday, the authorities of the Gambling Commission notified all the people, interested in the progress of the Gambling Act 2014, that the gambling rules and regulations within the country will be actualized on November 1st , instead of October 1st . The reason that has led to such a standstill was the fact that any unnecessary pressure should be avoided and the judges should be given enough time to make a wise decision.
According to the new rules, every gaming provider who would like to operate within the United Kingdom must have a license, issued by UKGC. A tax, equal to 15% of all bets, made by the players, is also expected to be implemented at the beginning of December.
However, Gibraltar’s Betting and Gaming Association representatives are not quite content with all these actions. What’s more, they are convinced that the new gambling rules are not intended to protect the players against violations but to contribute to the annual revenue – an act, which is absolutely prohibited on the territory of the European Union.
The GBGA defined the UK’s actions towards the gambling activities as “discriminatory” and according to the players, they definitely have a point in making that statement. Once the new laws are implemented, they will affect both – gambling providers and players who, after the imposed additional taxes, will try to find alternative methods for making bets and respectively opt for services provided by companies, based outside the UK. In case that happens, the new law should be considered absolutely useless.
The claim of Gibraltar was rejected by the UK Court with the explanation that the standards of the European Union are incompatible with the standards, followed by the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. The Court has stated that the newly imposed taxes the gaming operators are supposed to pay wouldn’t pose such a great difficulty. The judges actually believe that all these costs will be “easily absorbed”.
During the sitting of the UK Court, it became vivid that the new regulations were unlikely to be implemented by the initially set deadline – September 30th. Bearing that in mind, the Court got the request of postponing the implementation. Although the request was dismissed, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has declared the suspension the next day.
Despite the delayed acceptance of the new regulations, many UK based gambling operators hurried up to find out another niche where they can provide their services. The changes will, without a shadow of a doubt, reduce the number of gambling operators available within the UK.
