UK MPs Want Updated Online Gambling Laws

0 Comments   Email   Print

The UK Parliament’s Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, under the chairmanship of John Whittingdale, has for some time been deliberating on the online gambling scenario in the country. The report has now been made public and the MPs have expressed dissatisfaction with the present situation. Their summarized reaction is that the Gambling Act 2005 is inconsistent and not sufficiently evidence based. The online gambling laws are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with social and technological changes.

The committee supported taxation on the point of consumption basis but stated that the Treasury needs to work with industry stakeholders to establish the correct level for online gambling taxation. The failure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to work with the Treasury to set remote gambling taxation at an acceptable level has led to almost half of the online gambling operators moving offshore. They pointed out that the need is to encourage companies to accept UK regulation and taxation and to discourage the formation of a grey market.

The report came out very strongly against the UK Gambling Commission. The committee’s view was that the Commission is “an overly expensive, bureaucratic regulator”. The Commission has not taken all adequate and required steps to reduce its operating costs. The result is that the fees imposed on the industry are unnecessarily high and hide the inefficiencies of the Gambling Commission. The MPs recommended that an independent review of Gambling Commission expenditure should be carried with a view to reducing costs. However, this can be done only after a new system for online gambling licensing is in place.

Problem gambling was another key issue addressed in the report. The committee recommended that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport develop an information campaign on problem gambling with the objective of encouraging the relatives of problem gamblers to seek help. It also stressed the need for specific research on problem gambling and underage gambling. More effective ways of educating children about probability and the risks of gambling are required. The committee also felt that decisions are being taken without the backing of hard evidence. This is one of the causes of ineffective regulation. The report stated, “The government must ensure that high-quality, independent research, comparable over time, is available to be able assess the scale of problem gambling and the impact - if any - of changes in regulation.”

Whittingdale said that gambling was widely accepted in the UK as a “legitimate entertainment activity”. He pointed out that the “reluctantly permissive” tone of gambling legislation is now completely outdated. It cannot cope with the realities of global online gambling. He said, “Our general approach in this report has therefore been to support liberalization of rules and delegation of decisions to those closest to the communities that will be affected.”

News Item Tools

 Email     Print     Digg     Del.icio.us    StumbleUpon

Comments

 Add Comment

Add Comment

More News