eCOGRA Lauds Responsible Gaming Day

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The representative body of European online gambling operators, European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), will hold its annual Responsible Gaming Day conference in Brussels on October 19. Members of the European Parliament (MEP), national officials, regulators, industry experts and top online gaming operators are expected to attend. This year's Responsible Gaming Day holds special significance. The European Parliament will be casting its final vote on the draft Report on Online Gambling in November. The industry will be looking to send a strong signal to the MEP regarding the extent to which they are following responsible gaming initiatives.

Andrew Beveridge, Chief Executive of the independent player protection and industry standards organisation eCOGRA, will be attending the EGBA Responsible Gaming Day conference. Beveridge said that already this year over 30 of the leading European operators and software suppliers have voluntarily elected to implement the 134 evidence-based measures developed by CEN aimed at ensuring player protection and responsible operator behaviour. Many of them are being annually audited by eCOGRA to demonstrate full compliance. Based on audit evidence and player feedback, it is evident that these measures are proving highly effective.

Joachim Haeusler, Responsible Gaming Manager at Bwin.party, also stressed the importance of responsible gaming. He said that for the effective prevention of gambling-related problems it is important that operators use clearly defined measures and are audited regularly for compliance. Bwin.party was among the first operators to adopt the CWA 16259:2011 measures for responsible gaming. Haeusler urged all responsible operators to adhere to clear player protection measures that are properly audited to ensure a safe gaming environment.

Malcolm Harbour MEP, Conservative Chairman of the European Parliament of the internal market and consumer protection committee, gave the EU view ahead of the Responsible Gaming Day conference. He said that the draft report on online gambling has shown that there is a clear support for common standards for consumer protection at EU level. He added, "These are a positive step towards establishing a single market regime for responsible and safe gambling and they will benefit consumers, industry as well as the Single Market."

In the EGBA Responsible Gaming Day conference, Tex Rees, who manages eCOGRA's initiatives in responsible gambling and the organisation's disputes mediation service, will present a live demonstration of the internet tools that are available to identify and protect vulnerable players. Her demonstration will be aimed at illustrating to the delegates how the CWA 16259:2011 measures have been implemented by the EGBA members. The presentation will also detail how the measures work to ensure player protection and responsible operator behaviour, how the requirements are regularly audited and the results of recent studies on the effectiveness of the measures.

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