The Gambling Commission has today released a supplementary consultation around Deposit Limits linked to the Gambling Act White Paper.
While today’s consultation may not be as fundamentally as significant as consultations around other aspects of Player Led Controls – where we strongly ask that setting deposit limits becomes a mandatory requirement before allowing any person to gamble – it does touch upon the detail of how a deposit limit is defined and implemented and as such is an important consultation in its own right.
We are already aware from our members of operators choosing to interpret current rules very loosely, such as deposit limits being taken as applying at net rather than gross.
Worryingly, the Gambling Commission are now reporting instances where interpretation has been changed by the operators after deposit limits have already being put in place by customers.
As the new consultations points out:
“Referring to ‘net’ deposit limits as ‘deposit limits’ is potentially misleading as ‘net’ deposit limits automatically enable customers to continue to deposit funds in excess of their self-determined deposit limit.
We have also seen examples where operators have changed the nature of deposit limits already set by customers, from a ‘gross’ deposit limit to a ‘net’ deposit limit basis.”
This may seem like a purely technical issue – one of ‘semantics’ even – but it is one with very real consequence to how individuals can be assured in their own safeguarding when setting limits which they feel safe and comfortable with.
Any flexibility of interpreting a requirement for ‘deposit limits’ opens up the possibility of customers being mislead in what protections they have selected to be put in place.
It may also threaten the universal application of frictionless checks linked to deposit values, which we feel is another vital part of building a holistic safeguarding-first approach to customer protection.
So, please, do consider taking time to read and reply to this new consultation.
By doing so you may not only be helping better protect yourself but you may be helping millions of others from experiencing unconscious drift into Harmful Gambling
Consultation can be found here —> Supplementary Deposit Limit Consultation