06Oct

Harris Hagan continues to be ranked Tier 1 in The Legal 500

6th October 2023 Harris Hagan 215

We are delighted to announce that Harris Hagan continues to be ranked in The Legal 500 2024 as Tier 1 for Gaming and Betting in the UK.

“There’s no one else to go to other than Harris Hagan for everything gaming. One stop shop for all your needs. They deliver trust, confidence and integrity.”

Managing partner John Hagan, alongside consultants Julian Harris and Hilary Stewart-Jones continue to be listed in The Legal 500’s Hall of Fame, and partner Bahar Alaeddini retains her listing as a Leading Individual.

David Whyte, senior associate, has been listed as a Rising Star and remains a key lawyer, alongside senior associate Gemma Boore, and associates Francesca Burnett-Hall and Jessica Wilson.

We received many positive testimonials, including:

“Market leader in gaming law.”

“The team is very knowledgeable about UK gambling laws and engaging with the regulator.”

“The individuals at Harris Hagan have a deep knowledge of not just the British gambling laws, but also of the way in which the regulator operates.”

“In-depth knowledge of gambling licensing in terms of regulations and how they are implemented.”

“Bahar Alaeddini and Jessica Wilson get full marks.”

“John Hagan, Julian Harris and Bahar Alaeddini are prominent leaders in the gaming law field.”

We wish to thank our clients and friends of the firm for their input and recognition of our work.

22Sep

DCMS publishes correction to online slots consultation

22nd September 2023 Adam Russell 208

On 20 September 2023, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) published a correction note in respect of its open consultation on the imposition of a maximum stake limit for online slots games.

Correction note

DCMS have made a correction to Chapter 5 of the original consultation document, within which it was incorrectly reported that, according to the Public Health England Gambling-related harms evidence review, problem gambling rates are highest in the 16 to 24 age group (at 1.5%). However, 1.5% is in fact the problem gambling rate for men in that age group, rather than all respondents. In actuality, the rate for all respondents in the 16 to 24 age group is 0.8%. According to the Health Survey for England 2018, the problem gambling rate in the 16 to 24 age category is 1.0% – which was the highest of any age group.

The timing of this correction is interesting, particularly given the open letter published by the Gambling Commission’s CEO, Andrew Rhodes, in August 2023, in which Mr Rhodes raised concerns about the misuse of gambling statistics. The accurate use of data, it seems, is becoming increasingly important for all stakeholders.

Extension to deadline for submission of responses

The original deadline for submission was 20 September 2023 at 11:55pm. In view of the correction made to Chapter 5, DCMS have extended the original deadline by two weeks, to 4 October 2023 at 11:55am. This is to “give respondents time to consider the correction and respond on this basis”.

Next steps

DCMS have advised that any respondents who wish to resubmit should email [email protected] to do so.

Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss this matter further or require our assistance preparing a response.

22Sep

DCMS Committee inquiry on gambling regulation

22nd September 2023 Harris Hagan 231

In case you missed it earlier in the month, on 5 September 2023, the Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP (Gambling Minster), Ben Dean (Director, Sport and Gambling at DCMS), Andrew Rhodes (Chief Executive, Gambling Commission), Sarah Gardner (Deputy Chief Executive, Gambling Commission) and Tim Miller (Executive Director for Research and Policy, Gambling Commission) appeared before the DCMS Committee examining the Government’s approach to the regulation of gambling. The Gambling Commission gave evidence in the first session at 10am, and the Gambling Minister and DCMS gave their evidence in the second session at 11.30am.

Watch the recording of the DCMS committee oral evidence sessions:

22Sep

Julian Harris wins VIXIO’s 2023 Compliance Lifetime Achievement Award

22nd September 2023 Harris Hagan 210

We are very delighted to announce that Consultant and Founder Julian Harris has been awarded the Global Regulatory Award for Compliance Lifetime Achievement by VIXIO Regulatory Intelligence.

This special award recognises Julian’s unprecedented work in trailblazing a “culture of compliance and regulatory standards within the industry” for more than 40 years. During that time, Julian has advised many of the world’s largest online and land-based gambling companies, regulators, governments, financial institutions, and private equity firms on gambling law and regulation. Julian has also been at the forefront of thought leadership in the gambling sector, sharing his extensive experience and insight on various gambling regulatory issues by authoring many articles on the topic, including acting as editor of global publications on gambling law, and in his speeches at conferences across the world. He also served as President of the International Association of Gaming Advisors, the first person to do so from outside North America, testament to the esteem in which he is held amongst gaming advisers worldwide.

Julian first came to specialise in gambling law in 1981 representing the Gaming Board for Great Britain (the then British regulator). He co-founded Harris Hagan with John Hagan in 2004, in anticipation of the Gambling Act 2005 and the expected growth of the gambling industry in Great Britain. It was a bold and inspired decision at a time when niche law firms were rare in the City of London.

Upon receiving this distinguished award, Julian commented:

“I am greatly honoured and humbled by this award. I have felt privileged to have enjoyed being a part of this exciting industry for some 40 years, working with industry, fellow advisers and regulators internationally.
To receive this award from such a distinguished panel of judges and from the most respected global regulatory awards is particularly gratifying.”

The 2023 Global Regulatory Awards will take place on 29 November 2023.

22Sep

Gambling Commission establishes Industry Forum

22nd September 2023 Bahar Alaeddini 193

On 14 September 2023, the Gambling Commission announced the establishment of an Industry Forum, to be made up of representatives from the British gambling industry, with the role “to provide further insight into the views of operators… share industry views on areas such as account management, consultations and the Commission’s data programme.”

There will be approximately 10 cross-industry members.

The recruitment of a Chair will begin in September 2023, when the Gambling Commission will be inviting expressions of interest from industry to become a member. Details will be published on the Gambling Commission website.

We welcome this announcement. We also very much welcome that the Gambling Commission has listened with increased industry engagement, recognising that better relationships with industry leads to better outcomes. However, we make two important observations:

Why is the Industry Forum only being created now? It is: (a) nearly three years since the Gambling Act Review kicked off and the Lived Experience Advisory Panel was formed; (b) nearly six months since the publication of the White Paper; and (c) critically, the most important Gambling Commission consultations have already been published.

Cynically, it is titled a “forum”, which suggests the possibility (however remote) it may not be viewed with much value within the Gambling Commission itself. Why is the Industry Forum not placed on an equal footing to the Lived Experience Advisory Panel, Digital Advisory Panel and Advisory Board for Safer Gambling? The Lived Experience Advisory Panel is described by the Gambling Commission as “provid expert independent advice based on its members personal lived experience of gambling harms”. Putting aside the issue with this description and lack of members with positive experience (which I have written about previously and was raised by the DCMS Committee on 5 September 2023) why is the new forum not an “Industry Panel” providing “advice” to the Gambling Commission? Plainly, advice is just that and it can be ignored.

Further, as industry lawyers, we have not had any structured engagement with the Gambling Commission for two years since the last Industry Lawyers’ Group meeting in September 2021 (which used to meet once or twice a year) and even that had fairly limited value when the questions raised were not answered for six months.

Whilst we acknowledge, as Andrew Rhodes explained before the DCMS Committee on 5 September 2023, that the Gambling Commission has held more stakeholder engagements in the last year (220 to be precise), it appears to have been selective. In particular, it has excluded certain parts of the British gambling industry, including longstanding, experienced and balanced stakeholders and advisers, including us!

Industry lawyers are an important buffer between the Gambling Commission and applicants/licensees. This is perhaps most obvious in our immersion in compliance and enforcement. The Gambling Commission (in its current form) seems to confuse lawyers being unhelpful with lawyers acting on their clients’ instructions. Nowadays, the latter tends to require us to hold the Gambling Commission to account to comply with its own policies and procedures and the law. We very much hope the establishment of the Industry Forum will prompt the Gambling Commission to take a more strategic and holistic approach, and perhaps create, like other regulators, a framework for stakeholder engagement.

Whilst we are encouraged by the establishment of an Industry Forum, we are disappointed by its delay and remain keen to hear what other plans the Gambling Commission and its leaders have to engage with the industry and its stakeholders.

22Sep

White Paper Series: Regulatory Panel changes – Fair or unfair?

22nd September 2023 Bahar Alaeddini 202

In this blog, we consider the Gambling Commission’s most recent proposals to the Regulatory Panel.

It will not come as a surprise to readers that, as gambling lawyers, we have serious concerns about the proposals to:

use Adjudicators with only a minimum of five years’ post qualification experience (“PQE”); and
change the default from oral hearings to paper-based decisions subject to a fairness test.

Regulatory Panel and its importance

The Regulatory Panel provides an important opportunity for applicants and licensees to attend an oral hearing to challenge decisions made by Gambling Commission staff. It is the only avenue of recourse, outside the expensive options of the First-tier Tribunal and judicial review, when the Gambling Commission is going against you. Whilst we accept it is still, in fact, the Gambling Commission, it is an important accountability mechanism for Gambling Commission employees making decisions under delegated powers. This narrow and non-independent avenue of recourse should not be further eroded.

2020 consultation

On 18 May 2020, the Gambling Commission announced planned changes to its Regulatory Panel, which included: (1) the recruitment and appointment of legally-qualified Adjudicators, solely for the purpose of sitting on the Regulatory Panel with the “presumption” they will also provide legal advice; and (2) reconstituting the quorum as follows: (a) for operating licences: one Commissioner and one Adjudicator; and (b) for personal licences: one Adjudicator.

At the time, we were so concerned by the proposals and that the duty to act fairly was being compromised that we submitted a response to the 2020 consultation and shared it on our blog to assist others in preparing responses.

More than 14 months later, on 21 July 2021, the Gambling Commission published its consultation response which summarised the 22 written responses received from gambling operators, trade associations and others, including Harris Hagan. As explained in our August 2021 blog, The overwhelming majority of respondents disagreed with each of the Gambling Commission’s proposals, with a key concern being that “the independence and impartiality of the Panel would be adversely affected by the proposal to use adjudicators” as outlined in my May 2020 blog.

2023 consultation

The two main proposed changes are:

Quorum and composition

The Regulatory Panel will no longer comprise up to two to three Commissioners, advised by an independent legal adviser. Instead, it will be chaired by a legally qualified Adjudicator sitting alongside one Commissioner and one senior Gambling Commission employee. The Adjudicator would sit alone on case management matters and personal licensing cases.

The main reasons for the proposed change are to improve availability, improve governance and accountability and provide an enhanced skillset for decision making.

Our main concerns are:

Adjudicators will, as proposed in 2020, be employed by the Gambling Commission. In a small feat of victory, we note from the draft Governance Framework (published this time as part of the consultation) the Gambling Commission has acknowledged some of our previous concerns by indicating that Adjudicators’ will be home-based and appraisals will be run by a Commissioner.

Adjudicators will only need a minimum of five years’ PQE. The idea that someone with potentially as little as five years’ PQE would be adjudicating on a £20m fine, suspension or revocation of a licence is frightening. Where is the Gambling Commission’s evidence to support that five years’ PQE is appropriate? How is this a sufficient level of experience, bearing in mind they are likely to have absolutely no experience of gambling and, given their lack of seniority, very minimal experience making unsupervised decisions?

Unlike the 2020 consultation which failed to specifically mention other adjudication frameworks, this time, the Gambling Commission has made fleeting mention to the General Medical Council (regulates medical doctors), Ofqual (regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments) and Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (regulates law firms and solicitors) to support the move to a mixed model of decision-making. We remain wholly unconvinced by the Gambling Commission’s rationale. There are about 90 statutory regulators in the UK and yet the consultation includes no details, or evaluation, of the different models of adjudication and relative advantages and disadvantages (including appeal rates) of each model. Nor is there any reference to the determining factors for the chosen mixed model or the appropriateness of application to the regulation of commercial gambling. As with the 2020 consultation, we are left to assume this is deliberate given many of the other models appear impartial, independent and robust. By way of example, approximately half of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee’s 18 members come from finance or financial services backgrounds. The other half have esteemed legal, governance, policy or academic backgrounds. Independence is further emphasised by the FCA handbook stipulation that: (i) none of the members are employees; and (ii) the committee has its own legal advisers and support staff.

The Principles of inspection and enforcement, as set out in Philip Hampton’s Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement report state: “egulators should be accountable for the efficiency and effectiveness of their activities, while remaining independent in the decisions they take setting out a number of core principles of effective regulation – the standard against which all regulators’ performance should be judged.” At a minimum, the Gambling Commission must publish its research into each adjudication model and its evaluation criteria for monitoring the “efficiency and effectiveness” of each model, together with the impact on applicants/licensees.

There is no mention of a trial period of using Adjudicators.

Default of paper decisions

Another proposal is to change the default from oral hearings to paper-based decisions. An oral hearing can be requested by the applicant/licensee; alternatively, the Panel itself may decide it is “required” – using a test of “fairness”, for example, where there are “material and significant disputes of fact”.

The main reasons for this proposed change are to reduce the burden on applicants/licensees particularly where they have unrepresented and find it difficult to navigate, and to increase the promptness of decision making.

Our main concern is that applicants and licensees will be denied the opportunity to bring their arguments to life. What is the test of fairness and why do we need one?

The requirements of fairness are flexible and fact specific. Legal history places huge importance on oral argument and, in our view, with good reason. Over 20 years ago, Lord Justice Laws recognised “oral argument is perhaps the most powerful force there is, in our legal process, to promote a change of mind.” Further, in R (H) v Secretary of State for Justice EWHC 2590 (Admin), Cranston J summarised the legal position in respect of oral hearings as follows:

Procedural fairness sometimes demands an oral hearing. There can be greater confidence with an oral hearing that the relevant standards have been properly applied and that the facts on which the decision is based are accurate. The oral hearing also gives the person affected by the decision the opportunity to tailor the arguments to the concerns of the decision maker.

Another concern is the matter of mutual respect for the Gambling Commission and the applicant/licensee with the latter’s perception of the process being central, as acknowledged in Osborn v Parole Board UKSC 61, in which Lord Reid referred to the principle that:

…justice is intuitively understood to require a procedure which pays due respect to persons whose rights are significantly affected by decisions taken in the exercise of administrative or judicial functions. Respect entails that such persons ought to be able to participate in the procedure by which the decision is made, provided they have something to say which is relevant to the decision to be taken.

We feel strongly that the Gambling Commission’s proposals do not conform to the necessary standards of fairness. The proposed barrier should therefore be removed, and the policy should simply say that an oral hearing can be chosen on request. This will address the Gambling Commission’s main reason for the proposed change whilst still enabling those who want one, a fair hearing.

The consultation cites the stress that the unrepresented applicants/licensees experience in attending hearings as a reason for changing the default to paper decisions. However, there is no mention of how many of the 12 requests, to the Regulatory Panel, last year were unrepresented. The Consultation is silent (no doubt, intentionally) on the introduction of a policy dealing with unrepresented parties.

Concluding thoughts

It is undeniable that the Gambling Commission is a very powerful regulator. How many other UK regulatory authorities can impose limitless fines, commence criminal proceedings and decide to close multi-million pound businesses?

It appears that the Gambling Commission’s primary focus is to cut costs. Inevitably, good decisions will not be made in the public interest, nor will those decisions be made following a fair process. The new proposals will have a far bigger negative impact than announced changes in 2021, which will be implemented at the same time (as amended). The only possible – dim – glimmer of hope is that decisions will or should be quicker. However, if those decisions are of poor quality and unfair, it means that they will be more routinely appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, which will be lengthy, uncertain and expensive. Therefore, any possible benefit gained from quicker decisions will be more than outweighed by the drawbacks.

If we look at the regulatory landscape, the Gambling Commission is proposing to make these significant changes at the same time as it is escalating fines and sanctions.

Effective regulation requires effective accountability, and it seems to us that the Gambling Commission is removing a weakening mechanism which holds the regulator to account for its own policies and procedures and the law.

In conclusion, and repeating the final words from my May 2020 blog, the proposed changes do not offer a practical vision for adjudication that is consistent with good regulatory and legal practice. There is nothing to suggest that fairness has been a consideration. The only consideration appears to be about saving cost, time for the Gambling Commission and Commissioners, and speeding up the process. In doing so, the duty to act fairly has been compromised.

Respond to the consultation

We strongly encourage industry and its stakeholders to respond to the consultation, which closes on 18 October 2023.

22Sep

White Paper Series: Defining the Future VIXIO Webinar

22nd September 2023 Harris Hagan 199

On 15 September 2023, Bahar Alaeddini appeared as a panellist on a VIXIO Regulatory Intelligence (formerly GamblingCompliance) webinar titled “UK White Paper: Defining the Future” together with Tim Miller from the Gambling Commission, Sarah Fox from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Dan Waugh from Regulus Partners. The panellists had an insightful and lively discussion about some of the proposals in the recent wave of consultations and next steps:

01Sep

Gambling Commission sets its sights on late regulatory returns and incorrect fee categories

1st September 2023 Gemma Boore 192

In its latest E-Bulletin, the Gambling Commission has reminded operators that it is a licence condition (15.3.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice) to submit regulatory returns on time.

The update goes on to note that the Gambling Commission is aware that some regulatory returns have been overdue since 1 April 2023, and advises operators to bring these up to date “immediately”.

“Operators who fail to submit returns on time will be escalated to our Enforcement team to consider regulatory action and may result in a financial penalty under section 121 of the Gambling Act 2005.”

This is an important reminder from the Gambling Commission, which should not be taken lightly, and it is clear a tougher approach is now being taken.

Background

Gambling licence holders in Great Britain are required to submit a regulatory return for each type of activity for which they hold a licence.

Depending on licence type, regulatory returns must be submitted on a quarterly or annual basis. Quarterly returns must be submitted within 28 days of the end of each quarterly reporting period. Annual returns must be submitted within 42 days of the end of each annual reporting period.

All returns must be submitted via the online regulatory returns system within the Gambling Commission’s eServices Hub.

The Gambling Commission uses the information to publish bi-annual industry statistics and to inform its understanding of its licensees and the wider gambling industry. The information also helps the Gambling Commission ensure licensees are within the correct fee category for their licensed activities.

An imperfect system

The Gambling Commission publishes information on when and how to submit regulatory returns in its Regulatory Returns Guidance, which is split by licence type.

However, the guidance is simple, and a repetition of what is asked within the regulatory return forms. There is no additional detail as to the type of information that should be captured in the form, and where. The lack of clarity, in our experience, has sometimes resulted in incorrect data being provided with the regulatory returns, or being provided under the wrong licensable activity.

In our experience, licensees often require assistance with the following:

Non-GB revenues – they should only be reported if taking place in reliance on the Gambling Commission operating licence;

B2B online casino revenues that are not revenue shares – the form only allows for GGY (revenue share) to be reported, and not fixed fee revenues, although the Gambling Commission is now aware of this issue from us.

It is important that information provided in regulatory returns is accurate. If a licensee misrepresents or fails to reveal information that it is asked to provide, unless it has a reasonable excuse it will commit an offence under section 342 of the Gambling Act 2005.

Beware exceeding your fee category

Regulatory returns go hand in hand with ensuring a licensee is in the correct fee category and, recently, we have noticed an increase in the Gambling Commission using regulatory returns to identify and contact licensees that it believes have exceeded the upper threshold of their fee categories.

Fee categories are a licence condition, included on the face of an operating licence. Therefore, an application to vary the fee category must be submitted before the upper threshold has been exceeded and it is a licensee’s responsibility to proactively monitor its fee category to ensure the upper threshold is not exceeded.

We urge licensees to routinely consider whether they are approaching the maximum limit of their fee category and whether a change of fee category is warranted. Licensees should be aware that the fee category licence condition follows the licence year, and will not necessarily align with the regulatory returns reporting period.

The process for submitting an application to vary is relatively simple. The applications can be completed through the eServices portal and carry a fee of £40. It is important to note that:

fee category increases by one level do not require any supporting documentation;
fee category increases by two levels or more must be supported by:
- new or updated financial projections;
- new or updated business plan;
- evidence of how the expansion of the business is funded;
decreases in fee categories must be supported by a full explanation.

Gambling Commission working group

In order to address some of the issues with the regulatory returns system, the Gambling Commission has established a working group and is seeking feedback from licensees on the questions currently posed in regulatory returns.

The last time the regulatory returns process was reviewed was in 2020 when, following a Consultation on changes to information requirements in the LCCP, regulatory returns, official statistics, and related matters, the Gambling Commission simplified the regulatory returns processes. In its consultation response, the Gambling Commission also committed: (1) to publish guidance for regulatory returns (which went live on 4 May 2021); and (2) to improve the usability, accessibility and availability of the regulatory returns system.

Three years on, the system is under review again – but it appears there will be no consultation and, consequently, fewer licensees will be aware there is an opportunity to help shape forthcoming improvements.

Next steps

We strongly recommend licensees use the online contact form to tell the Gambling Commission about their concerns with the regulatory returns process, forms and guidance as soon as possible, so they can be improved.

We hope that the working group will use this, as well as our recent feedback on the Gambling Commission’s guidance, to improve the current system.

In the meantime, licensees should also:

submit any outstanding regulatory returns as soon as possible;

endeavour to submit complete and accurate regulatory returns within the timeframes set by the Gambling Commission. The Gambling Commission is taking a much tougher approach and late and/or inaccurate regulatory returns will be referred to the Enforcement Team; and

routinely review whether they are in the correct fee category and, if necessary, submit an application to vary before exceeding the upper threshold of a fee category.

Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding the regulatory returns process and/or if you would like our assistance preparing a regulatory return or changing your fee category.

With credit and sincere thanks to Jessica Wilson for her invaluable co-authorship.

24Aug

Gambling Commission publishes new remote customer interaction guidance

24th August 2023 Adam Russell 218

On 23 August 2023, the Gambling Commission announced that they have published new remote customer interaction guidance in relation to Social Responsibility Code Provision 3.4.3 (“SRCP 3.4.3”) of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

Context

In April 2022, the Gambling Commission introduced new “stronger and more prescriptive” remote customer interaction requirements for remote gambling operators under SRCP 3.4.3, which tightened the rules on identifying at-risk customers and taking “proportionate timely action to reduce harm”.

At the time, the new remote customer interaction requirements were due to take effect on 12 September 2022 and in June 2022, the Gambling Commission published associated guidance, designed to support compliance with the new requirements under SRCP 3.4.3.

However, to widespread surprise, in September 2022, the Gambling Commission announced their decision to delay the implementation of:

paragraph 3 of SRCP 3.4.3 (“Licensees must consider the factors that might make a customer more vulnerable to experiencing gambling harms and implement systems and processes to take appropriate and timely action where indicators of vulnerability are identified. Licensees must take account of the Commission’s approach to vulnerability as set out in the Commission’s Guidance”);

paragraph 10 of SRCP 3.4.3 (“Licensees must prevent marketing and the take up of new bonus offers where strong indicators of harm, as defined within the licensee’s processes, have been identified”); and

other references in SRCP 3.4.3 to the guidance,

until at least 12 February 2023.

In the intervening time, the regulator decided that it would “be beneficial to use the time now available” to conduct a consultation on the guidance itself.

The consultation on the remote customer interaction guidance closed in January 2023.

The Gambling Commission also announced that, irrespective of the consultation on the guidance, requirement 10 of SRCP 3.4.3 would come into force on 12 February 2023 in any event.

New customer interaction guidance now published

Seven months after the consultation closed, the Gambling Commission have finally published the new remote customer interaction guidance, together with the associated consultation response.

The new remote customer interaction guidance contains various updates to the guidance originally published in June 2022, which we will explore in an upcoming blog.

Remote operators will be required to take into account the new remote customer interaction guidance from 31 October 2023.

In addition, SRCP 3.4.3 requirements:

to take into account the guidance; and

to “consider the factors that might make a customer more vulnerable to experiencing gambling harms and implement systems and processes to take appropriate and timely action where indicators of vulnerability are identified”,

will come into force on the same date.

Next steps

We are closely reviewing the new guidance and consultation response, and will be sharing our analysis and insights in due course.

Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss this development, or if you would like assistance on drafting/updating your policies and procedures in light of the new guidance.

18Aug

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission’s remote game design proposals – simply following suit?

18th August 2023 Jessica Wilson 211

On 26 July 2023, the Gambling Commission’s opened its first consultation (the “Consultation”) following the White Paper. This included proposals to amend the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (“RTS”) “to reduce the speed and intensity of on online products while making them fairer and increasing consumer understanding about game play”. In the White Paper, Government concluded that products other than slots should be considered to create wider design codes and safer product design standards for other online products. In this blog, we summarise the proposals.

The Gambling Commission last made changes to the RTS in October 2021 when it introduced design requirements for online slots products, including limitations on speed of play, auto-play and the illusion of false wins. In June 2023, the Gambling Commission published a report assessing the impact of those changes, noting that they have “reduced play intensity…and not resulted in harmful unintended consequences”. Tim Miller, Director for Policy and Research, noted that whilst the results are positive, “we aren’t complacent and will continue to monitor this specific part of the sector for both any unintended circumstances, or non-compliance.”

The Gambling Commission made it clear in its response to its consultation regarding slots game design that those changes were “just one step in reducing the risk of harm”. Given the positive outcome from the October 2021 design changes for slots, it is not surprising that requirements for other products are likely to follow suit.

Summary of Gambling Commission proposals:

Proposal 1: Player-led “spin stop” features. Removing features which can speed up play to reduce the harm experienced by consumers who are gambling particularly quickly or intensely

Impact: Amendment of RTS requirement 14E – The gambling system must not permit a customer to reduce the time until the result is presented.

Applies to: all gambling (not just slots).

Proposal 2: 5 second minimum game speed

Impact: New RTS requirement 14G – It must be a minimum of 5 seconds from the time a game is started until the next game cycle can be commenced. It must always be necessary to release and then depress the start button or take equivalent action to commence a game cycle.

Applies to: all casino games (excluding peer to peer poker and slots)

Proposal 3: Prohibition on autoplay extended to all online products

Impact: Replacement of current RTS8. New RTS8 – The gambling system must require a customer to commit to each game cycle individually.

Applies to:all gaming.

Proposal 4: Prohibition of features which may give the illusion of “false wins” extended to all casino products

Impact: Amendment to RTS requirement 14F – The gambling system must not celebrate a return which is less than or equal to the total stake gambled.

Applies to: all casino games (not just slots).

Proposal 5: Prohibition on operators offering the ability to play multiple products simultaneously

Impact: amendment to RTS requirement 14C – The gambling system must not offer functionality which facilitates playing multiple games or products at the same time.

Applies to: gaming (including bingo) and betting on virtual events (not just slots).

Proposal 6: Extending requirement to display elapsed time and net spend

Impact 1: amendment to RTS requirement 13C – The elapsed time should be displayed for the duration of the gaming session.

Impact 2: amendment to RTS requirement 2E – All gaming sessions must clearly display a customer’s net position, in the currency of their account or product since the session started.

Applies to: casino (excluding peer to peer poker) (not just slots).

Proposal 7: Technical update to RTS security requirements to reflect the 2022 update to ISO 27001

Impact 1: the addition of 11 new controls in line with the 2022 update.

Impact 2: the addition of ISO27001 2022 standard section 5.23 regarding information security for use of cloud services as an RTS requirement for security audits.

Applies to: remote operating licensees (excluding betting intermediary) and non-remote gaming machine technical and gambling software operating licensees.

As anticipated, the majority of the proposals aim to align the requirements currently in place for slots with other online gambling products. Given the positive impact of the October 2021 changes, and the important harm minimisation effects, it is unsurprising that the Gambling Commission is taking this approach.

However, we note the Gambling Commission is mindful of the fact that certain online gambling products have different features to slots, and therefore certain RTS requirements cannot have a blanket application across all online products. For example, the Gambling Commission has noted that the majority of games it sampled (including online roulette, blackjack, and live versions of games) have a slower minimum game speed than the 2.5 second restriction applied to slots products. Proposal 2 (to introduce a 5 second minimum game speed) is therefore more reasonable and appropriate than simply extending the current restriction for slots to other products.

Further, in respect of Proposal 6 (display of elapsed time and net spend), the Gambling Commission notes that this should not be a requirement for peer to peer poker as, whilst time spent gambling is a risk factor, poker does not require a customer to be staking every hand to participate, unlike other casino games. The Gambling Commission itself notes that it is “mindful of imposing unnecessary regulatory burden” and we welcome this considered and reasonable approach.

Respond to the consultation

The Gambling Commission is accepting responses until 18 October 2023. We strongly encourage gambling businesses to respond to the Consultation.

Please let us know should you require any assistance preparing a response.

Gambling Regulation