Health Experts Raise Concerns Over Mandatory Levy’s Impact on Responsible Gambling Initiatives

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: April 22, 2023

British lawmakers who are against gambling are trying to promote responsible gambling which some health experts say will fail. The government has yet to announce a timetable for releasing its white paper on gambling, which would include the most significant change in over 20 years. It is said that the framework is almost done, but there is still a lot of guessing about what it might have.

The Sun said that the limit on how much can be bet on online slots will stay the same. Limits of $2 to £15 are possible, with the first one aimed at people under 25. The concept of a $2 cap is not brand new and has been mentioned in connection with gambling changes in the UK for more than a year. The white paper is about to be published, which is what makes the current situation different. The restrictions are therefore more than idle chitchat if The Sun’s data is accurate.

Which Are the Government’s Expectations from the Gambling Sector?

The government’s expectations for the gambling business will be outlined in the white paper, but they are not the last word. It is a draft version of the rules, which still need to be reviewed by MPs and given feedback from people who work in the gaming industry. The final form of the new laws still won’t be ready for implementation until after those consultations.

There are also suggestions for extensive affordability checks, though it is yet unclear how these will operate. To minimize the initiative, the government and those who favour the checks now refer to them as credit checks.

There’s still a potential that the new gaming legislation’s ultimate form will adopt a more accommodating stance. Additionally, there have been allegations of a nearly total prohibition on advertising. However, a few lawmakers have expressed resistance to this proposal.

Another new rumour regarding the information in the white paper claims that an operating levy that is required is on the way. The voluntary donations they currently make to the government and the UK Gambling Commission would be replaced by this: (UKGC).

So far, gaming companies have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help make gambling safer. Several organizations, such as Flutter and Entain, have also been the first to use internal risk prevention strategies. The UKGC updated their T&Cs in 2022 to root out unfair consumption practices.

The fact that the problem gambling rate in the UK is less than 0.2% is at least in part due to all of these initiatives. Many health experts believe that all of that work would be for nought if the government were to impose the new fee.

BMJ Explains the Obligatory Levy

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) published an essay that attempts to explain what will happen if there is an obligatory levy. Leading health specialists from the UK and Australia worked together to produce the paper, “Statutory levy on gambling may do more harm than good.”

The authors of the paper claim that although problem gambling is on the rise, the UK government hasn’t done much to address it. It hasn’t done anything, they argue, to support independent gambling research, education, and treatment.

Without a thorough study, developing policies is a risky proposition. The authors note that the existing funding for responsible gaming comes from donations made voluntarily and add that a government fee has major flaws. The authors’ conclusions state that those faults would primarily be the consequence of the gaming industry’s attempts to disturb the new status quo.