Cut to maximum bet at FOBTs may be delayed
The proposed decrease in maximum bets on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) may be pushed back to October 2019.
The original date of implementing the legislation change was April next year, but The Guardian reports plans drawn up for 2019’s budget indicate the new cap will be brought in six months later.
The Guardian suggested “well-placed Whitehall sources” saw the spring date removed and a compromise of October put in place.
When contacted about this recent development, the Treasury took a different approach to previous statements and declined to comment.
Earlier in the year, reports of a delay until 2020 surfaced, but the Treasury told Gambling Insider there would be no delay to the process.
In September, a Treasury spokesperson said: “There is no delay to the policy. We are changing the rules, so they balance the needs of vulnerable people, those who gamble responsibly, and people who work in this sector.”
The government decided to reduce the maximum FOBT stake in May from £100 to £2 in an effort to lower the risk of “gambling-related harm.”
The move follows repeated calls from campaigners to protect vulnerable gamblers from the terminals that have been described as “highly addictive.”
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