From time immemorial, gambling is the ultimate activity for people across the world. The thrill of winning or the misery of missing out on the big cash by a whisker, is what keeps them gambling. Gambling is an international activity with players from all over the world involved. Both honest and reputed institutes are seen alongside the fraud ones. For maintaining the integrity and credibility and also to protect the interests of the players, UK Gambling Commission was set up. UK was one of the first countries to set up a regulatory body which oversaw the online gambling scenario.
Brief overview on UK Gambling Commission
The UK Gambling Commission is a regulatory body which deals with regulating the gambling scene in the Great Britain. It was set up under the Gambling Act of 2005. Effective from 1st October, 2013, it has also taken over the National Lottery Commission to regulate the National Lottery also.
It is non-departmental public body, which works under the wing of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport of the UK.
Roles & Responsibilities
The main job of the UK Gambling Commission is to regulate the working and functioning of the online and the land based casinos.
The three main objectives of this regulatory body is to keep gambling crime free, ensure that children and vulnerable people are protected and not taken advantage of by gambling. It also ensures that gambling is conducted fairly and openly.
The UK Gambling Commission has the power to issue licenses to the gambling casino operators. It can be issued to only those gambling operators, who operate in the UK.
For those operators who are located outside of the Great Britain, but wish to advertise their services in the UK; need to obtain the license from this commission, or from one of their gambling jurisdictions. The most frequently and widely opted for jurisdictions are Gibraltar, Antigua and Isle of Man among others.
Some of the best examples of mobile casinos who have been provided with licences by UK Gambling Commission are Jackpot Mobile Casino and Vegas Mobile Casino.
Regulatory action
How the UK Gambling Commission regulates the gambling organisations and the individuals who utilise these services and products; is of paramount importance for all the players and also the operators.
Covering under this regulatory action, are a range of gambling activities that include Slots, Bingo, Lotteries and the Casino games. It also regulates the supply of the gaming machines, gambling software and also its manufacture.
The UK Gambling commission can regulate by way of issuing warnings, adding or changing the conditions to a licence, suspending, revoking of the licence. It can also issue a financial penalty for the breach of a licence condition.
The basic approach to regulating is, to conduct dialogues between the gambling stakeholders to formulate precise, object-oriented licensing policies.
Compliance Action
Ensuring that the licence holders comply with the terms and conditions of the licence is the major job of this commission.
- They should comply and act according to the Gambling Act 2005 and any of the regulations made under this act.
- Any technical standards related to the licences
- Conduct reviews and audits of the licensed organisations.
- By way of giving advice and guidance, regarding how the licensed organisation can perform optimally.
- Additionally it ensures compliance by suggesting remedial or preventive actions.
- It can also make changes to the conditions based on which the license was initially given.
- It can also review the financial information and suggest further changes.
Enforcement
The gaming control boards or the Gambling commission is usually responsible for regulating the gaming activities which come under its jurisdiction.
When the regulating and compliance activity is done, if any deviation from their laid out guidance and rules is observed, it is dealt strictly. A mandatory and stern warning is first given, after which it can impose fines to the organisations. Further regulatory action involves cancelling or revoking the licenses.
They can reapply for the licenses after the making the corrective actions to their operations.
The Commission can also resolve any dispute which can occur. It can be related to the payments or banking or player disputes. Usually the casino management is responsible for resolving any of the player’s disputes.
If the issues are related to the licenses, auditing or other non gaming matters, then a thorough investigation is performed. The involved organisations can accept the verdict and act accordingly. A second chance is given, if the concerned party involved takes remedial actions and again subjects itself to the compliance procedure.
The UK Gambling Commission is present to ensure that you’re gambling experience is stress free and enjoyable. For further information regarding this commission, you can visit the www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk website.
