The Gambling Commission has warned online gambling businesses to take immediate steps to comply with consumer protection law or face enforcement action.
The warning comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the outcome of its own activity against three operators in relation to the promotions and sign up deals they offer customers.
“As the gambling regulator we will not hesitate to take action against those that do not treat their customers fairly,” commented Sarah Gardner, Gambling Commission Executive Director.
“The principles set out by the CMA today make real progress in making gambling fairer and safer for customers,” she said. “Gambling firms must now ensure that the terms applied to their promotions are clear, so that customers can understand the deals they are signing up to and what they need to do to fully benefit from promotions.”
“We support the CMA’s findings and expect all online gambling businesses to take immediate action to review their practices in line with these findings, in the same deadlines outlined. If firms cannot comply, they must remove any promotions until they can,” she added.
The CMA’s undertakings require the majority of practices to be amended by 28th February 2018, with a later date of 31st July 2018 for the implementation of prompts for consumers when they are playing with restricted funds.
The Commission says it intends to continue to work with the CMA to tackle other shared concerns about unfair terms and practices within the gambling sector and will publish advice once any further investigation and enforcement action by the CMA is completed.
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