The UK government has announced proposals to tighten regulations on internet gambling in a long-awaited revision of rules enacted before cell phones put 24-hour casinos and sportsbooks in everyone's pockets.
After multiple delays, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) released a white paper, laying out its blueprint for regulating the modern gambling industry. The culture minister Lucy Frazer told the House of Commons that gambling could wreck lives and ministers were “bringing our pre-smartphone regulations into the present day with a gambling white paper for the digital age”.
The proposals include: Online slot machine stakes should be limited to between £2 and £15; "free spin" and "bonus" offerings should be restricted; and there should be an obligatory 1% tax on industry income measures to slow down online casino games; more resources for the Gambling Commission; plans for a gambling ombudsman; some of the measures – such as slot machine stakes and bonus offers – will go out for further consultation, signalling fresh delay to a process that began in late 2020, when the government launched a review promised in Boris Johnson’s 2019 election manifesto.