UK Gambling Commission to Change its Oversight on Operators

UK gambling operators used to be managed by dedicated account managers working for the UK Gambling Commission. That is no longer set to happen. The reason? The UKGC isn’t interested in having operators interact with a single representative. Rather, they will have multiple representatives that have different responsibilities and tasks.

What this is meant to do is maximize the resources that are available, because those resources are actually limited. It’s meant to ensure requests and concerns are resolved quickly and efficiently as well, and that is expected to improve the outlook for operators.

Which Group Do You Need?

There will be four groups handling different issues, but it will be important to know which group handles each of those issues when operators are reaching out.

Operating License Group – This group will handle applications that are sent in for new operator licenses.

Change of Corporate Management Group – This group will handle existing operators’ changes in ownership or control.

Operating License Vary Group – This group will handle changes for licensing of existing operators.

Personal License Group – This group will take care of exactly that, personal licenses.

What Is Set for the Future?

The truth is, there’s a lot of uncertainty and unknowns about just what these changes are going to encompass. While the UKGC says that there is no change to the process for submitting applications, there are potentially changes outside of the establishment of the groups.

The government is currently in the process of drafting the Gambling Act white paper, which will outline even more changes within the UKGC. But those changes are not entirely known.

What we do know is that those changes relate to stake limits, universal deposit limits, restrictions on advertising and bonus offers, affordability checks, and potentially more.

The UKGC is set to implement changes without even waiting around for the white paper, but at this point there is no set date for when those changes will occur. After all, they have been waiting for quite a while already since the white paper was supposed to be completed at the end of June.

Perhaps some of these changes and their eagerness to implement them come about because the UKGC itself was actually under fire. In the midst of the pandemic, in 2020, they were tasked with proving their ability to manage the gambling system.

Only by proving what they could do and how they could do it were they able to maintain their level of control. But there’s always the chance that the government could take another closer look at the UKGC and decide that they’re not doing the job they need. If that happens more big changes could be coming before you know it.

Does This Change Things for the Consumer?

Those who enjoy playing slots online won’t have to worry at this point because the current changes are primarily focused on the operators rather than on the actual players. That means players will be able to continue checking out all of their favorite games like always.

This also shouldn’t make a big difference for operators in general, at least as far as the changes that are already known. This means there shouldn’t be much of a difference in terms of sites no longer being available because of the changes.

What does that mean? It means you can and should be able to keep going in the same fashion as before, with all of the top casino games still available to play, no matter where you are and no matter where those games are from.