If you thought online gaming was a final frontier of unregulated bandits, think again. The reality is that online gambling is strictly regulated with a number of controls and checks in place to protect both the player and the industry.
Remote gaming (essentially online, phone, TV or radio gambling) is far better controlled than you may have realised, giving a high level of protection to consumers and associated industries – there’s far better safeguarding in place than if it were not regulated.
New licensing conditions encouraging responsible gaming are set to come into force in 2016, meaning operators will have to take part in a self-exclusion plan involving multiple operators. This means players will be able to exclude themselves for at least six months from activities involving gambling across the UK.
Britain’s gambling trade association, the National Casino Forum, has already got the ball rolling with this. And the new programme is called SENSE or Self-Enrolment National Self-Exclusion. Its goal is to enable clients to exclude themselves voluntarily from taking part in land-based casino gambling.
The UK’s Gambling Commission described the new scheme as a step in the right direction in offering more protection for those who need help with managing their gambling. And it is a good example of the industry behaving responsibly.
In the UK, the Gambling Commission is leading the way in regulation so that other nations are following suit. At the same time, regulation on a global scale is not far behind. (And again, the UK is at the forefront.) This is being driven by governments’ taxation needs, as well as logical controls through regulation.
Here are just some of the rules in place which those offering remote gambling must follow:
• If you own or run an online gambling business, you must have a Personal Management License (PML)
• Extensive due diligence as far as owners and working practices are concerned
• Operators must carry out proven Know Your Customer (KYC) checks
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls also need to be in place• Self-exclusion and spending limit controls are another fundamental requirement for any license holder
An operator must have the right remote operating licence from the UK Gambling Commission if any part of its outfit is based in the UK, or there is advertising or business with customers here.
With regulation in place, and operators keen to encourage responsible gaming, customers can play at online casinos, bingos and lottery with confidence.
