Earlier on 16 June, the Gambling-Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) outlined 30 recommendations published in their online gambling harms report.
These included a blanket advertising ban, a £2 ($2.53) online slot limit, overhaul of the Gambling Commission and making the 2005 Gambling Act “fit for our digital age.”
While gambling and regulatory lawyer at Keystone Law Richard Williams says operators will strongly oppose the majority of the proposals, in a statement sent to Gambling Insider, he thinks it might not be long until they are implemented.
"Online gambling operators will be strongly opposed to many of these proposals, which would severely impact their finances," he explained. "Proposals such as deposit limits for online casinos are due to be introduced imminently in Sweden, so don’t be surprised if some, if not all, of the APPG recommendations make their way into revised gambling legislation in Great Britain in the not too distant future.“
In Response, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said there is no evidence problem gambling has increased and these restrictions could drive gambling within the black market.
A statement said: “Over 20 million adults enjoy gambling occasionally, and the overwhelming majority of them do so safely.
“We are committed to making even more changes to driving up safer gambling standards further.
“Of course there will always be people who are anti-gambling and prohibitionists, who are not interested in the fact the regulated industry supports over 100,000 jobs and pays over £3bn in tax.
“But we have to avoid measures that could drive people away from gambling safely with online companies who operate in what is rightly already a heavily regulated market, to instead gambling online with unregulated, offshore, black market, illegal operators that don’t conform to any standards or safeguards to protect problem gamblers and the most vulnerable.”
