The news, announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), came in response to a consultation launched on January 29, which looks at funding from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and “to cover its costs and face its regulatory challenges”.
DCMS stated that rising license fee costs would help the UKGC control the challenging industry years ahead, as new technological innovations and evolving consumer habits will reshape the industry on a global scale.
The UKGC needs to be well ‘equipped’ to deal with these challenges and protect customers and licensees against ‘black market encroachment’.
In March of this year, the UKGC announced that it has taken regulatory action against five casinos in the country after conducting a business review. Casinos had failed to follow the rules of social responsibility.
According to the commission, casinos did not follow the anti-money laundering rules established by the UKGC. Four of the casinos reached a regulatory agreement with the commission, but one of them received a fine.
In April, the UKGC suspended the remote operation license of Nektan (Gibraltar) Limited for violating the license conditions.
DCMS increases annual fees and application fees
In its response, the department stated that the commission’s investment strategy would include obtaining expertise and analyzing data related to technological innovation. It will improve your prevalence and participation in data collection.
DCMS focused on the need for staff training committee and better expertise as a regulatory agency controlling the high-risk industry.
DCMS will apply the following measures:
- Increase annual fees for remote operating licenses by 55%, October 1, 2021.
- Increase all UKGC license application fees by 60% from 1st October 2021.
- The cost of non-remote operating licenses will increase 15% by April 1, 2022.
- Make adjustments to simplify the fee system, including removing annual fee discounts for mixed and multiple licenses. The system will take effect from October 1, 2021.
- Objections to increased cost of licensing fees.
- DCMS said that prior to finalizing its 2005 review of the Gambling Act, it received objections for raising the cost of licensing fees.
In response, the department said that the UK‘s flat-fee licensing structure has not changed since 2009. However, UKGC administration costs have increased over time.
The decline of the UK GGY gaming industry due to the pandemic and the downsizing of the industry does not mean that “the complexity of the UKGC government has decreased”.
