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Underage gambling is something which is against the law in the UK and the UK Gambling Commission has strict regulations when it comes to gambling operators who allow underage gamblers to take part. Over time, the regulations have become a lot stricter as organisations like the UKGC and the ASA have announced changes in their regulations.
Here, we are going to discuss how recent changes in regulations have made underage gambling even harder than before. Keep reading to find out more.
2018 Changes
Before we get started on the recent changes in regulations, it is important to look back at previous changes that have affected this industry. In 2018, the UK Gambling Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority worked together to demand that casino operators remove any sort of cartoon characters that might appeal to children on their sites. Over 450 operators received these letters and since then have made the changes to their sites or have faced action by these regulatory companies.
UK Gambling Commission
While many casino operators worked hard to remove any sort of advertising that might appeal to kids on their sites, the UK Gambling Commission has recently revealed that they are not happy with the number of children who have access to gambling services – stating that it has gone up by around four times.
To deal with this, the UKGC have decided that operators must verify the age of a player before allowing them to make a deposit on the site or make use of any bonuses. In the past, there was usually a 72 hour process where players could engage in these activities, but this has now been removed. Any casino operator in the UK must alert their customers to the documents that they will need to provide before they can make their first deposit.
Advertising Standards Authority
The Advertising Standards Authority who work in association with the rules set out by the Committees Of Advertising Practice has also recently published some new standards that will make underage gambling in the UK much harder. The new standards set out by these bodies will prohibit any sort of ads that are likely to be under the age of 18 – based on their online interests.
Other standards in the review include the prohibition of celebrities or sportspersons who are under 25 being used in gambling ads. The ASA and CAP also listed all of the content which they deem unacceptable in the way that it could be targeting younger people and more importantly those under 18.
What Does This Mean?
Now that these governmental bodies are becoming stricter with their regulations on underage gambling in the UK there is sure to be some big changes. We already saw many operators reacting to the changes in 2018 and the 2019 changes are likely to have stronger consequences for those who don’t abide by the rules.
For operators, these strict guidelines could cost a lot of money in terms of changing adverts, branding and much more to get in line and avoid losing their licenses. Of course, it is for the best in the end as these operators should not be targeting those who are underage anyway.
Overall, it is possible that the new regulations set out by all three of these bodies should have a positive impact on the number of underage people in the UK who engage in gambling activities. These changes are for the better and will hopefully, in turn, reduce the number of gambling addictions that are present in the UK.
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