DGOJ begins development of mechanism to detect risky behaviour in gambling
The protection of vulnerable participants and groups at risk is classified as a primary concern of the law.
Key points:
– The Spanish Gambling Regulator is creating tools to help safeguard players
– It will use different markers and patterns of activity to flag players who may be at risk of harm
– Public consultation on the project is now open
The Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), the Spanish Gambling Regulator, has published the first draft of its upcoming mechanism project.
The Royal Decree, issued 14 March, requires gambling operators to “adopt mechanisms and protocols” to aid them in detecting risky behaviour in players as a safeguarding measure.
As part of this initiative, DGOJ has been given two years to develop a mechanism for this purpose.
Spain is not the first country to launch a project like this, as the KSA published data on risky gambling behaviours back in January.
This study found five key pillars of behaviour that could be linked to potential harmful gambling habits: Intensity, loss of control, increase in gambling, operator behaviour and game features.
Interestingly, the KSA highlighted that due to the fluctuations in problematic spending, mean values were “not very helpful”, as behaviour on an ‘average’ day was often not the issue.
Good to know: In its recent 2024 full-year report, DGOJ found that active players increased 21.6% year-on-year to almost two million
The Spanish Regulator is creating the tool in the hopes that it can enable a “homogeneous categorisation of the group of players at risk, regardless of the operator in which the participant is playing.”
DGOJ has opened up the above plans for public consultation, where “any natural or legal person may make any observations or suggestions they deem appropriate.”
The deadline for contributions is 25 September 2025.
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