New Bingo Licensing
18th January, 2010
Online bingo operators that are based overseas could be faced with a new licensing regime. After a document was leaked, the DCMS have confirmed the proposals for a new regime to govern overseas online gambling companies, which will include online bingo.
The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, announced that any offshore gambling business that have a UK customer base will have to hold a license and will be subject to regulation from the UK Gambling Commission. Before any new measures are undertaken there will be a consultation period but it’s understood that UK businesses will be affected.
The new measures will allow collaboration between industries to share information about problem gamblers and any suspicious betting patterns. The licensing will put an emphasis on protecting children and the vulnerable and will ask UK bingo operators to contribute to research and educating problem gamblers in Britain.
Many land based bingo halls are already supporting the measures and do support the RIGT and newly formed Great Foundation (Gambling Research Education and Treatment).
Of course the UK Government would prefer UK Bingo companies to operate within the UK. However the current 15% tax rate is a huge barrier to entry forcing major companies such as Ladbrokes and William Hill to move offshore.
The proposals will not bring overseas gaming to the UK and any levies at this stage are aimed at advertising online gambling. The government is aware that advertising is the lifeline to online gaming companies and without it expansion is greatly hindered.
The proposals may mean that a levy will be transferred to customers that play online in the UK and bring online operators in line with land based operators, however this could bring in some problems with EU law. This is because there could be some opposition to having a separate regulatory system just for the UK.
We’re sure that the land based sector will welcome the proposals as they feel short changed as online operators have much more freedom with little contributions and would prefer a more level playing field.
By Jamie
