How Are Casino Sites Regulated In The UK?

Your safety and protection are of the utmost importance when you are playing at land-based or online casinos, obviously, and it is always nice to know that you are playing at a casino that is regulated by a respected commission.

Players in the UK benefit from this, with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) being known the world over for protecting vulnerable players and penalising casinos who do not abide by their rules and regulations.

However, being told that is one thing, but what exactly is it that the UKGC does? And how do they ensure that when they set the rules, casinos follow them?

Can the UKGC Punish Casinos?

If you visit the UKGC website, you will see the following:

“Where necessary we will exercise our regulatory powers.”

Traditionally, such a sentence would be terrifying, but in this case it should be reassuring, because those regulatory powers will be used to help you, and, if necessary, to punish online casino who don’t abide by the rules.

If an operator who holds a license with the UKGC fails to comply with the Commission’s demands, then they risk regulatory action, and those who do not respond to the calls for transparency from the UKGC may find themselves more regulated and more susceptible to intervention from the Commission.

Where’s the Proof?

Under now departed chief Sarah Harrison, who left the UKGC to take a role in the British government, the Commission started to clamp down hard on online casinos which do not comply with their regulations.

888 Holdings found itself the recipient of a multi-million pound fine after failing to protect vulnerable gamblers to the extent that the UKGC demands, and this was not the last such fine that the Commission has given out.

What Action Can the UKGC Take?

The UKGC is essentially the government’s watchdog for the gambling industry, as a result, they have the power to launch a regulatory or a criminal investigation against any operator they believe to be less than compliant.

These investigations can result in sanctions or criminal charges, and are often carried out alongside another agency to ensure the best possible result is gained.

As the UKGC are the Commission who hand out licenses to casinos, they are also have the ability to take them away, which can happen as a result of a licence review.

A licence review is undertaken by the casino if they have reason to believe that an operator has breached a condition of their licence, if someone within a gambling company has a criminal record, or for any other reason the Commission suspects that the licence holder may be unsuitable for the activities included within the license.

It’s important to feel safe in the gambling world, especially when you are playing at online casinos where everything is digital, and money moves without you seeing in, and the UKGC is working hard to ensure that feeling of safety is something that all players can experience whenever they gamble.