UK Government Set To Increase Online and Land-Based Operators’ Application and License Fees. This will help them better deal with challenges. (Image by Colin Watts on Unsplash)
The UK Government released its publication at the start of the week in reaction to a consultation carried out on a proposal that seeks to boost the fees payable by gambling operators in the United Kingdom to the UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) to acquire rights to offer their services and products.
The last review of the fees payable by gambling companies was in 2017 and the new increased fees will help the UKGC to respond swiftly to challenges, risks, technological developments, and the growing costs of the regulatory body’s existing regulation.
Similarly, the review of the fee structure is expected to help the UK gambling regulator to address some areas identified by the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee such as bringing advancement to the use of data and intelligence and ensuring that the local gambling sector is effectively regulated. The changes linked to the consultation mentioned above include a 55 percent increase in the band of fees for online gambling operating licenses annually. It is expected that this rise will be effective from October 1, 2021.
Brick-and-mortar gambling companies’ licensing fees will also increase from April 6, 2022. The changes are part of the UK Government’s acknowledgement of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact that lockdown measures that necessitated the closure of land-based gambling locations have had on the businesses.
UKGC Will Have Better Resources To Regulate the Gambling Sector in The UK With The New Fee Increase
The consultation mentioned above was held from 29th of January to 26th of March 2021 with participants from the gambling sector, and academic and clinical researchers responding. Peers for Gambling Reform from The House of Lords group also reacted to the consultation.
The UK Gambling Commission is expected to have more resources with the planned increase in gambling business fees. They will use the resources to face new challenges faced in the UK gambling market like payment and product innovation that is happening constantly across the gambling sector. The new arrangement will reportedly imply that the gambling regulatory body is better prepared to tackle UK’s gambling sector landscape that is constantly changing and becoming progressively more global over the past few years.
Moreover, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission will be better placed to address the possible harms and risks common to unlicensed firms as well as the need to better protect both the licensed companies and customers against the black market. Asides from the increase in fee band for all annual operating licenses, other application fees will also increase by 60 percent. Also, the UK Government is set to remove the discounts given to companies that are licensed to offer multiple activities. All these changes will be effected via an exclusive statutory instrument that is set to be rolled out.
According to reports from the Casino Guardian, the current review of the United Kingdom Gambling Act 2005 will affect the resources and powers of the UKGC to ensure that the gambling regulatory body has an appropriate regulatory structure for the gambling sector that is becoming increasingly digitalized. In March, the call for evidence segment of the Gambling Act Review ended, and the responses are currently taken into consideration with the review findings expected to be published by the end of 2021.
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