Casino Premises Changes to Legislation
Verification typically involves submitting identification documents (passport, driving licence), proof of address (utility bill, bank statement), and in some cases a selfie or video verification. The casino must clearly state which ADR provider it uses in its terms and conditions. If you have a complaint that the casino cannot resolve internally, you can escalate it to the ADR provider for an independent, impartial review. The RTP published for a slot, for example, has been confirmed by third-party testing — the casino cannot quietly alter the odds. When you see logos from these organisations on a casino’s website, it means the games have been independently verified to operate as advertised.
Operators can only market to you if you have opted in per product (casino, bingo, sports) and per channel (SMS, email, push). Auto-play is prohibited on all licensed online slots. Every spin on a UKGC-licensed online slot must last at least 2.5 seconds. The Commission issues licences, writes the LCCP, investigates breaches, and has the power under Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005 to warn, fine, suspend or revoke.
If you are leaving the British gambling market, the Gambling Commission has expectations of licensees in these situations. If you no longer need your licence, you can surrender it, partially or in full. This is a condition of your licence under LCCP Condition 8 – Display of licensed status. When you are issued a licence, we will display the details of your licence on the register. We provide details of all businesses and individuals we licence on our Public Register service.
These include a new senior appointment, changes to reporting requirements, updates linked to new consumer protection laws, and tax changes affecting bingo operators. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has released a series of announcements and regulatory updates that will shape the gambling sector over the coming months. From leadership changes to new compliance rules, the UK Gambling Commission has announced several updates that will affect operators and, indirectly, players in 2026. We have a duty to ensure that adequate controls are in place to prevent gambling businesses being used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. (a)the size of floor area of the gambling area is not increased, and
Katya leads product at non gamestop casino Casino.net and has followed UK gambling regulation since the run-up to the 2023 White Paper. UK gambling regulation is among the most mature and heavily enforced in the world, and it is still tightening. A dedicated gambling ombudsman was proposed in the 2023 White Paper but is not yet operational.
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- While informal estimates from operators suggest between 0.7 to 3% of active accounts are restricted, operators tend to use ‘restriction’ to refer to a near-complete withdrawal of services rather than the staking factor restriction outlined above, so the real figure is likely to be higher.
- We provide details of all businesses and individuals we licence on our Public Register service.
- Where 1968 Act casinos are smaller than these requirements, we have proposed that they are able to benefit from an increased number of machines on a pro rata basis commensurate with their size and non-gambling area, and subject to the same ratio.
- The measures set out today will shield players in the grip of addiction from harm and hold gambling firms to account when they fail in their responsibility.
- It was also suggested that point of purchase messaging could also be used to communicate a wider range of risks including potential health harms.
The increase in Category B machines will enable bingo halls to better meet customer demand and will likely result in greater GGY. This would result in an overall decrease of over 900 cabinet machines across these venues, predominantly consisting of legacy Category C cabinets. Also, Category C and D gaming machine device types made available for use must be of similar size and scale to Category B. For example, some options may place further emphasis on achieving commercial flexibility than achieving customer choice of higher and lower staking machines, and vice versa. Gambling Commission data, from April to September 2019, indicates that across all land-based sectors, 1.8% of Category B sessions result in a loss of £200 or more.
The second priority is to ensure that customers receive a genuine offer of lower staking Category C and D gaming machines. As such, Option 2(a) has the added benefit of ensuring that all venues make a genuine offer of Category C and D gaming machines available to customers on device types which have genuine customer appeal. Responses stated that the commercial flexibility permitted by Option 2(b) would enable bingo operators to reduce the number of Category C and D gaming machines which they make available, while making slight increases in the number of Category B cabinet gaming machines. Both policy options are variations of Option 2, meaning that they focus on addressing the practice of operators siting increased numbers of Category B cabinet gaming machines by making lower staking Category C and D content available on in-fill and tablet gaming machines. The second objective is to ensure that customers are presented with a genuine offer of lower staking Category C and D gaming machines.
The impact of COVID-19 saw a further decrease of 4% to 609 licensed bingo premises between March 2020 and March 2022, and GGY declined by 33% in the same period. The overall number of licensed bingo premises has declined by 11% from a high of 710 in March 2014 to 635 in March 2020, GGY over the same period declined by 15%. The number of active licensed premises increased from 148 (2015) to 156 (2020), but the impact of COVID-19 resulted in a number of permanent closures (active licensed premises were 144 in 2022). The 2005 Act licences (8 Large and 8 Small) were allocated by a Casino Advisory Panel following bids from local authorities. The Gambling Commission’s advice to this review has emphasised the benefits of the land-based sector moving towards account-based play. This means that the length of time on a machine, stakes and the win/loss can be assigned to a customer’s profile.
The evidence provided by the bingo club sector was more varied, with some operators projecting a small increase in GGY (though substantially less than Option 1 would generate for some bingo club operators), whilst others projected a small decrease in GGY. Evidence provided by arcade operators and the industry trade body Bacta suggested that this option would likely have a small but negative impact on GGY for many operators. Under Option 1, the vast majority of industry respondents projected that there would be an increase in GGY for arcade and bingo operators.
This was higher than the Health Survey for England (HSE) 2018 estimate but could be due to a number of factors, including the pilot having somewhat higher rates of past year gamblers than the HSE. This new way of collecting data was successful in attracting participants and generated a good response rate across the whole of Great Britain. In June 2020, following a consultation, the Commission started piloting a new set of survey questions designed to better understand the incidence, nature and severity of harm experienced by gamblers and non-gamblers. Collecting and disseminating information relating to the extent and impact of gambling in Britain forms an important basis for this advice. Under section 26 of the Gambling Act 2005, the Commission is responsible for advising the Secretary of State on the manner in which gambling is carried on as well as the incidence, effects and regulation of gambling in Great Britain. The work it is doing to improve collection of participation statistics and its future work to make more data available to researchers will also be important contributions and are outlined further below.
Online casinos enjoy huge popularity in the country and now they are believed to earn twice as much as brick-and-mortar establishments. Since 30 August 2024, remote operators have been required to undertake financial vulnerability checks on their customers once defined net deposit thresholds have been met in rolling 30-day periods. Generally, all betting and gaming products may be offered (albeit, as noted above, offering bets on the National Lottery is prohibited).
Ofcom is given its powers to set fees by primary legislation which requires it to publish the principles behind its approach to setting licence fees and charges, called the ‘Statement of Charging Principles’. The Commission, under new leadership, has also set out an ambitious vision for how it should regulate the industry, which was not factored into the last fees review. This white paper also proposes an ambitious step change in gambling regulation and the regulator must have the funds it needs to match this level of ambition.
We propose to introduce a maximum stake limit for online slots games of between £2 and £15, subject to consultation. Products which are safer by design will help prevent harm at source and reduce the reliance on reactive harm detection systems. With new technologies and payment regulations now in place, the Commission will work with others to consider what more can be done to reduce this risk.
(Regulation 3 of the 2009 Regulations addresses when a gaming table is to be treated as being used in a casino at a particular time.) Licensees must have and put into effect policies and procedures intended to promote socially responsible gambling, including the specific policies and procedures required by the provisions of section 3 of this code. 2Note that in respect of special category personal data, a further specific basis for processing would also be required. In some cases (for instance, where we are investigating a licensee’s compliance with its social responsibility and anti-money laundering requirements as a result of a gambler stealing funds for gambling over a prolonged period of time), this may involve requesting account data which goes back a substantial period. Under GDPR, data subjects may request that their personal data (including data which may be relevant to regulatory compliance) is erased.
For operators, they establish higher compliance standards and greater accountability. The UK operates strict gambling frameworks, with the UK Gambling Commission charged with protecting players & ensuring market integrity. It is important to note that illegal gambling activities may not be safe in the UK.
Key Features of the 2025 Regulations
The Commission’s LCCP currently requires operators to make annual financial contributions to a list of research, prevention and treatment organisations. The changes will help consumers understand which operators protect their funds and which do not – information which will support them in making choices about who they gamble with. From 31 October 2025 operators whose customer funds are ‘not protected’ in the event of insolvency must actively remind consumers once every six months that their funds are not protected. Our work revealed recent changes by some operators on how deposit limits are offered, which could cause confusion for consumers. The Gambling Commission has today announced changes aimed at increasing consumer control over deposit limits and greater transparency of customer funds protection by operators.
The current maximum amount of cash that can be inserted into a machine at one time is £50 as this is the highest denomination of bank note. Regulation 7 ensures that there is a maximum value that players can deposit onto a machine in a single action. Regulation 9 also sets committed payment limits, money which cannot be refunded to the player once it is paid or transferred onto the machine’s credit or play meter. Regulation 7 of the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007 sets the financial (payment) limit on the amount a person can deposit on a machine in a single action. Completely removing the prohibition could also pose a risk to anti-money laundering compliance.
We received projections concerning GGY and the change in overall number of Category B, C and D gaming machines under Options 1, 2 and 3 from a range of stakeholders. As such, the consultation sought to understand if the regulatory framework could be strengthened to ensure that there is a consistent minimum offer of Category C and D gaming machines on cabinet devices in venues across the arcade and bingo sector. The Gambling Commission has raised concern that some of these machines appear to have been designed primarily to maximise the number of Category B cabinet machines which can be sited by an operator, rather than to provide a genuine lower stake gambling offer to customers.
The Commission updated its ‘available for use’ guidance to highlight that gaming machines should only be counted as being available for use if each machine can be played simultaneously by different players without physical hindrance. The Gambling Commission, however, has pointed to concerns that the industry is intentionally subverting the 80/20 rule for machine games and expressed doubt as to whether some machines represent a genuine commercial offer to customers. Up to 20 percent of total gaming machines can be Category B. This rule mandates that at least 80 percent of all gaming machines in Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs) and bingo halls must be Category C and D. We would like to make the process for taking up the entitlement of additional machines as simple as possible for both operators and licensing authorities. What player protections could be adopted in casinos for those customers participating in sports betting?
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We use the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework to identify sector specific risks and threats to operators. Our risk assessment is developed in partnership with sector specialists, including law enforcement, such as the National Crime Agency (NCA). As outlined in the consultation, the fees payable for gaming machine notifications and gaming machine permits are not in scope of this review. We will keep the 15% increase in fees under review to ensure that its impact is proportionate both to the funding requirements of licensing authorities and the financial pressures placed on operators.
Where an authority retains an interest, we will look to learn more about its current position and the barriers to making progress within a reasonable time, with a view to evaluating whether an unused licence should be reallocated. Where an authority has no intention of progressing a licence, we will act promptly to offer up unused licences for reallocation so that other areas are able to benefit. We propose to write to local authorities with unused licences to ask them to confirm whether there is an intention to develop the licence. Local leaders of some areas without 2005 Act licences have expressed interest in a licence as a driver of regeneration. Under existing legislation, government could create more new 2005 Act licences or alternatively seek to offer up as yet undeveloped 2005 Act licences for reallocation. This sliding scale would still maintain a requirement for a balance between non-gambling space and overall size but would allow a proportionate increase.
Affiliate marketing is a form of marketing whereby a third party receives a commission for promoting a company’s products or services, typically paid per customer referred or with a share of revenue generated by referred customers. It might also risk unintended consequences such as reducing the ability of consumers to distinguish licensed from unlicensed operators. While it is likely that this would reduce the limited level of children’s exposure to gambling adverts, there would be a negative impact on the ability of lotteries to fundraise for good causes, and a risk of adverse consequences from increasing the volume of late-night gambling adverts. It is also clear that children’s exposure to broadcast advertising has declined over the past decade, in all sectors including gambling.
