Within the last two decades, the gambling industry has been flooded with many online gambling sites. This has made betting easier for many gambling enthusiasts as they get many more options to enjoy. For example, if you want to bet on sports today, you no longer need to leave your physical location. You can simply visit https://www.novibet.co.uk/sports to enjoy sports betting.
Apart from sports betting sites, there has also been an abundance of online casinos. You can enjoy classic table games and slots machines online easily. All you need is a device that can connect to the internet. Once your device is internet-enabled, you have access to thousands of games.
However, it could be difficult and risky betting online. This is one of the reasons the UK government decided to create a regulation for online gambling. In 2005, the Gambling Act was adopted to solve the challenges faced in the industry. However, illegal gambling persisted after that, and the government had to create the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in 2017. The commission was given the responsibility to make sure that casinos and gambling operators follow the rules provided in the Gambling Act.
Since then, there have been no significant changes made in gambling regulations until recently. Discussions have been held, and some major changes that affect online betting have been implemented. Here are some of the changes you need to know.
- Restriction of Payments with Credit Cards
Earlier this year, the UKGC publicly announced that it is now illegal to make deposits at online casinos and bookies using credit cards. The commission decided after a survey revealed that about twenty-two percent of UK gamblers who were using credit cards to deposit on online casinos were problem gamblers. Additional research carried out, and news from around the world further proved that more people were getting into huge debt for depositing with credit cards.
Even though this new restriction may be frustrating for some online casino players and punters, it is going to prevent many from massive debt and prevent them from losing their properties to gambling.
Online casino and sportsbook operators were not happy with the credit card restriction as it caused a drop in their profits. However, the UKGC has dismissed their complaints, reiterating that their priority at this time is to protect the consumers.
The credit card restriction was effected on April 14th, 2020.
Solutions to fight Underage Gambling
Reports from the UKGC reveals that about 450,000 children around the ages of 11 to 16 gamble online regularly. The Gambling Commission has thus instructed online casinos to verify the age of players manually by requesting for some form of identification before accepting new customers.
This will go a long way in curbing underage gambling as there is no way for players to verify with another person’s ID. Even if verification is done with a different user’s ID, the payment cards must bear the same name as the account.
What next?
It will take some time before the results from these new regulations can be measured. Nevertheless, there is a certainty that the new restrictions will help to control the excesses of the UK online betting industry. Hopefully, it will bring the balance that the gambling commission wants.
