UK Gambling Commission Announces Tough New Slot Regulations
Tough new regulations have been announced by the United Gambling Commission that are set to have a major impact on the £2.2 billion a year industry. In particular, the regulations will target online slot machines and the practice of offering reverse withdrawals.
Under the new rules, a number of features are set to be banned, such as the ability to use autoplay to set a series of spins in motion. Furthermore, graphics and sound effects that celebrate a win after a spin that lost money will be banned.
According to the UK culture minister Nigel Huddleston, the new rules are needed to combat an increase in online gambling that has seen the online slot machine sector grow by £100 million a year. It is thought that slots now account for two-thirds of all online gambling.
The UKGC was particularly critical of the way sounds and images are used to celebrate so-called wins. For instance if a player ‘wins’ £0.10 from a £0.50 stake, when in fact there has been a loss of £0.40.
The new rules, which will take effect from October 31, will prevent operators from celebrating returns that are equal to or below the stake in the same way as a real win. The Commission said, “This is because we are concerned with the fairness of these celebratory effects.”
Additional regulations will prevent operators from offering turbo mode on slots. A spin may not be faster than 2.5 seconds in order to prevent players from quickly accumulating losses. Furthermore, features that may give players the impression that they are in control of a game, such as the ability to stop the reels, are also set to be banned. Operators must also clearly display total losses or wins and time played during any online slots session.
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Away from slots, the Commission is also banning reverse withdrawals, a feature that gives players the ability to re-gamble their winnings immediately rather than having them paid into their account and only used days later after processing.
The latest moves come after new regulations came into force on 31 October 2020 that made online age and ID verification more thorough, banned gambling with credit cards, and restricted VIP offerings. Furthermore, a consultation on customer interaction was also launched in November last year and the outcome is expected in a few months’ time.
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