United Kingdom Gambling Commission Considering a Ban on VIP Schemes

After the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) collected and reviewed the data from betting companies, the regulator is considering to ban VIP schemes.

The data collected says that one company took 83% of all deposits from 2% of its customers.

The membership programs which reward gamblers who regularly lose large sums of money with perks including bonus bets, cashback on losing wagers or football tickets have been under fire and have been criticized a lot.

A representative for the UKGC said that the Commission was already taking action that will address poor practice linked to VIP programs. The representative said that operators are obligated to improve their interaction with VIPs.

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The regulator said: “Operators must improve their interaction with VIPs and we have challenged the industry to make faster progress to improve how they manage their customers. We have also taken robust action against operators who fail to protect consumers and we will be even tougher if behavior does not change.”

The data that the UKGC was able to collect on VIP schemes comes from nine companies that have been granted anonymity. The companies are among the UK’s largest and best-known.

“This report shows how completely reliant the industry is on people with gambling problems and that they are profiteering from them. As the Gambling Commission has itself suggested these practices should be banned to protect problem gamblers and stop the transfer of money from vulnerable addicted gamblers directly into the pockets of the online gambling industry,” Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs a cross-party parliamentary group on gambling, said.

More About the Commission

The Commission was set up under the Gambling Act of 2005 in order to regulate gambling in Great Britain together with licensing authorities. The Commission also regulates the National Lottery.

The UKGC issues licenses for license holders, gambling premises and heavily promotes responsible gambling.

It operates as an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its main goal is to keep crime away from gambling and to protect the end-users. They also consult the government on gambling-related issues.

Source:

“UK Gambling Commission Considers Banning VIP Schemes”, Niji Narayan, europeangaming.eu, January 9, 2020.