UK Gambling Commission exposed

The regulations for the regulation of online gambling have been widely developed all over the world in recent years.

Licenses are essential to avoid problems: they serve as a guarantee against scams. Hence the importance of entities such as the UK Gambling Commission (UK Gambling Commission or UKGC):

Why should you check operator records like the one at the UKCG? Because it allows you to know which gambling websites are legal and which are not, avoiding fraud.

What is the UK Gambling Commission

The UK Gambling Commission is an independent public government entity acting as the DGOJ ( Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling ) in New Zealand. It is the one who grants the licenses of gambling establishments in the United Kingdom, after certifying that they comply with the legal regulations in force in this country.

In his own words: “We license and regulate gambling professionals and businesses in Britain, including the National Lottery.”

To do this, they focus on three areas: the protection of the public, the verification of gambling businesses and the issuance of licenses.

How the organization works

Any business or individual wishing to set up their gambling business in the UK needs to first submit an application to the UK Gambling Commission. After evaluating that the business model complies with the legislation in force since 2005, they decide whether or not to grant the necessary licenses for the opening.

To do this, they check the identity and ownership of the gambling business, the state of its finances, whether there are indications of criminality or past antecedents and the level of integrity and competence of the business proposal.

All the conditions for granting licenses are available on their website, with a precise description of the data they collect before deciding whether applications are accepted or rejected.

They also include documentation on what are considered suspicious activities, the processes for making corporate changes, how it is proven that money laundering is not being incurred, manuals on how to proceed in case of disputes...

Advantages of playing at casinos regulated by the UK Gambling Commission

When you play at a casino regulated by the UKGC you do so with the certainty of knowing that it is not a scam. We analyzed how it protects players, verifies the operation, insures the deposited funds and guides in case of conflicts.

Player protection

Any casino or bookmaker with headquarters, registered office or that carries out its activity in the United Kingdom, is obliged by law to adhere to the regulatory standards on the processing of personal and financial data of players, respecting their right to privacy. This is essential to obtain and maintain a license.

The implications of these rules are several: of course they guarantee your privacy, but they also avoid the risks of exposing your data to malicious third parties, or who could take advantage of this information without your authorization. This ranges from the commercialization of your data for advertising to the impersonation of personality or the theft of capital.

As incredible as it may seem, security standards regarding data privacy also serve to minimize the risk of cyber attacks. If the company is obliged to have data protection measures in place, it deters and de facto prevents this type of crime. In New Zealand we have the parallel of the famous Data Protection Law in force today, which shares these same objectives.

Fair play

Checking gambling systems is one of the main anti-fraud measures carried out by the UKGC. It consists of verifying that there is really no cheating, that is, that all casino games ( slot , blackjack tables , roulette ...) actually work randomly, and that they cannot be manipulated.

All these games of chance are based on an algorithm whose goal is to generate random and unpredictable combinations. They are the so-called random number generators or RNG (random number generators, in English)

This system ensures that everything that happens during a game is really the result of chance and that losing or winning will depend solely on the player's luck. In addition, this operating protocol must be guaranteed by the casino, that is, the operator has to make sure that the game cannot be altered in any way.

It also includes the measures to be taken in the event that external factors, such as a cut in the connection, affect the result of the game. In general, all these possibilities are contemplated in the terms and conditions of each game.

Protecting customer funds

The licenses granted by the UKGC are conditional on the tools proposed to protect the funds deposited or earned by the players. They should also consider an insolvency plan, how they will provide information about their balance to customers, and the practical way in which the casino funds are managed.

Among the obligations of a legal casino are to make sure that its customers are informed of how the casino works, before placing a bet. This means that the information must appear visibly, and the player must actively confirm that he knows it, for example by checking a box. And the same with regard to any changes in conditions.

Until recently, the UKGC required remote operators to submit monthly reports on assets and liabilities from customer funds. After a first trial phase, the reports became quarterly, and currently the UKGC focuses on each operator specifying exactly what the funds corresponding to their clients (in the UK and abroad) are, keeping them in separate accounts, to grant them all the aforementioned protection measures.

Operator responsibilities

Without regulation, casinos could do whatever they wanted, and players would have no way to enforce their rights. Hence the importance of defining what the responsibilities of casinos are, and at what point their performance can be considered an abuse or even a crime.

In reality, the UK Gambling Commission does not act as a mediator between operators and players. It does not collect complaints, nor does it resolve disputes. It is simply dedicated to making licensed operators have the necessary procedures to manage complaints and have an independent third party act as a mediator.

So yes, you read that right, if you have any problems with a UK-based casino, it is the operator's responsibility to take care of your complaints and look for an impartial judge to act as a mediator between the two. But unlike the DGOJ, the UKGC will not attend to your complaints or give them any response.

Nor does it offer legal advice: neither for the operators (even while they are developing their business model to adapt it to the law and get their license), nor for the players affected by any problem.

How to know if a casino is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission

If you have doubts about the legitimacy of a casino, to get started check out our recomenVegas Palms casino list. In Estafa.info we only reviewed secure online casinos , licensed entities that are legal in New Zealand.

Now, if what you want to know is if an operator has a government license in the United Kingdom, you just have to consult the page of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. It has a registration with legal operators .

Before transferring your money to a gaming account you have to verify that this casino has a license from the Gambling Commission, if it is active, and if in the past it has suffered some kind of regulatory action for not complying with the rules.

Other important data to check are the domain, your business name and the specific gaming licenses you have to exercise your activity. Never take for granted that by showing the UKGC logo a page is legal, it can be a scam.

When problems arise

The disputes between casinos and players are very varied, but it is true that many of them are linked to the collection of prizes and bonus offers. Sometimes taking the necessary time to know the withdrawal conditions and for the collection of the benefits derived from the money of a bonus, can save you a lot of annoyances and disappointments.

In general, while payment methods usually offer immediate deposits, withdrawals take much longer. Even if you use the same method. In addition, it is possible that things will get even longer if the casino takes the necessary security measures to verify your identity, for example by asking you to provide documentation. Usually everything is resolved after a few days, but this is not always the case.

If you detect that an abuse is being committed in this or any other issue such as the unjustified closure of your account or problems with customer service, you don't have to put up with it just anymore.

How to report a problem

If you are having problems, use the available information about the legal requirements that online gambling companies must meet to find out if a crime is being committed against you.

As we have explained above, operators are required by law to seek suppliers for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). There is an official list of mediators approved as ADR, that is, the UKGC has made sure that they are reliable.

But we have already warned you that since 2015 the UK Gambling Commission has been checking that the established complaints system does not work for consumers. For this reason they have an email as a suggestion box: [email protected] .

Have you been waiting for days, have you filed a complaint with the operator and nothing is resolved? Is there something that doesn't fit you? If so, do not hesitate, you can send a report to the UK Gambling Commission, contact Crimestoppers .

The History of the UK Gambling Commission

The UK Gambling Commission was set up in Britain in 2007 under the Gambling Act of the Year 2005 as a result of the Gambling Act celebrated on April 7, 2005. This Law was updated to adapt the regulations concerning the licenses and advertising of gambling businesses in 2014, and is periodically reviewed.

It emerged as an institution in response to the growth experienced by online gambling (remote operators) in the United Kingdom, a sector that since its appearance has not stopped growing, currently accounting for about a third of the gaming market in the country.

It is a public and independent entity, whose main objective is to regulate commercial gambling and the National Lottery. Since its creation, it has been the authority in charge of managing gaming licenses to ensure that companies meet the requirements to maintain them.

They depend on the Department of Culture, Media and Sports and function from a Board of Commissioners divided into several decision-making committees. In total it has about 250 employees, most of whom work in the offices of its headquarters in Birmingham. They work closely with the UK gambling licensing authorities, the police and the Treasury.

Finding

We hope we have helped you to understand why it is so important that you always play in regulated casinos: otherwise you will not have any rights, and defending yourself in case of a scam will be very complicated. Always avoid suspicious sites, playing like this is not fun, and inform the authorities in case any problem arises.

Now that you know the function of the Gambling Commission and what it is for, we encourage you to also familiarize yourself with the regulatory authorities of Malta and Gibraltar, to which we have dedicated two articles.