UKGC Claims Unlicensed Gambling Dropping
The UK’s Gambling Commission says it is committed to making it difficult to provide illegal gambling. The authority had success in battling unlicensed gambling, but the battle for even better progress remains.
Unlicensed gambling is being tackled by the Gambling Commission © Alexas_Fotos, Pixabay
Gambling Commission Claims Success In Tackling Unlicensed Betting
The Gambling Commission has provided an update on how it is tackling unlicensed betting in the UK, with the regulatory body claiming its actions have had success.
It says it is “committed to making it difficult to provide illegal gambling” in the UK, with bodies such as the Betting and Gaming Council claiming that new regulation could result in a rise in unlicensed bets in the country.
In a blog post published on its website, the Gambling Commission revealed that its team has issued more than 750 Cease and Desist and disruption notices over unlicensed betting since the start of April.
That number includes over 250 cease-and-desists issued to operators and a further 189 to advertisers.
During the same period of time, the Gambling Commission referred over 78,000 URLs to the leading internet search engine Google in relation to illegal betting. Google removed some 50,000 of those and over 250 websites were also taken down as a result.
Good Progress Made
Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes said in the blog post that the body has been making “good progress” over unlicensed betting in the UK.
He noted steps such as “stopping games and products being accessible on illegal sites” have been working well. “But we also understand that there are concerns that when new regulations are introduced, there is a risk that some consumers might be displaced” , Rhodes said.
“The solution is not to avoid bringing in well-targeted and proportionate new regulations – especially where there are clear problems that need to be solved in improving our regulatory regime – we must also ensure that we avoid any unintended consequence of increased use of unlicensed operators.”
Rhodes also pointed out some unlicensed betting operators are deliberately targeting UK consumers who have taken steps to self-exclude themselves from gambling.
Next Steps
As well as explaining its actions to tackle unlicensed betting so far, the Gambling Commission has also revealed the next steps it will be taking over the important issue.
It said partnerships with search sites are due to be expanded with Bing, Yahoo Finance and other top search engines powered by Microsoft joining Google in the initiative.
Furthermore, the Gambling Commission said it will be engaging with external partners, such as:
- Law enforcement agencies
- The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit
- HMRC
“In terms of building our evidence base, our work with data will continue,” added UKGC CEO Rhodes. “The methodology paper we have published sets out the options we are considering.”
