UK gambling will move forward to implement new controls, empowering trust and transparency for online consumers, to be applied from 31 October 2025.
New controls have been added by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), continuing to apply the recommended reforms of the Gambling Review’s White Paper: High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age.
Changes seek to provide consumers with a more effective way to manage their gambling spend by ensuring that a customer sets and maintains deposit limits when engaging with online operators.
From 31 October, online gambling operators must ensure that a customer sets a financial limit on their account before making their first deposit. Further conditions call for online operators to make it easier for customers to review their spend and modify the financial limit at any point of activity.
New controls detail that online licences will be required to remind consumers every six months to review their account and transaction information “to help consider if they want to change existing, or set new, deposit limits.”
On setting mandatory customer limits, the Commission stated that “recent changes by some operators on how deposit limits are offered, which could cause confusion for consumers.”
“As a result, we will launch a short supplementary consultation on proposals to improve consistency and transparency for consumers on how financial limits work.”
LCCP adjustments have applied new duties to maintain the “transparency on the protection of customer funds.”
New duties will require Operators’ terms and conditions to detail whether customer funds are protected in the event of insolvency. Customers must be informed of the level of such protection and the method by which this is achieved.
As detailed, the level of protection must be described as either ‘not protected – no segregation,’ ‘not protected – segregation of customer funds,’ ‘medium protection,’ or ‘high protection.’
Customers must be informed of customer fund protections at the point at which they make their first deposit. Operators offering no protection will be required to inform consumers once every six months that their funds are not protected.
The Commission cited: “Whilst there is no legal duty on gambling operators to protect customers’ funds in the event of insolvency, many of them do so voluntarily. The changes will help consumers understand which operators protect their funds and which do not – information which will support them in making choices about who they gamble with.”
The final update relates to the Commission applying LCCP changes needed for the introduction of a new mandatory RET Levy.
The Commission will terminate the LCCP duty, which required operators to make annual financial contributions to research, prevention, and treatment of problem gambling.
In November, the UKGC and DCMS settled on the design of a new RET Levy, overseen by the NHS, that will require all online licensed operators to contribute a mandatory 1.1% GGY contribution towards RET funding, expected to be activated from 1 April.
Operators with gross profits under £500,000 will be exempt from the levy as the government will formally review the statutory levy system within five years, “with the first formal review expected by 2030.”
Applying RET Levy changes, the UKGC deems former LCCP duties on annual contributions as obsolete and will notify licensees of the date of implementation as soon as the Parliamentary process is complete.
Tim Miller, Commission Executive Director for research and policy, said: “These changes illustrate our commitment to ensuring gambling is fair and open by improving consumer empowerment and choice.
“These changes will help consumers decide on deposit limits, enable them to keep track of their spending and ensure they are fully aware of what happens to their funds should an operator become insolvent.
“We will now continue our work to deliver our remaining White Paper commitments, including our programme of evaluation.”