Legacy machines

Date: 23 August 2007

Legacy machines are machines manufactured up to 31 August 2007 which meet the legacy standards. The Gambling Commission has extended the deadline by which gaming machine owners must register any legacy machines to 1 December 2007.  

The three-month extension for registration is intended to give owners a reasonable time in which they can provide the serial or asset number, the manufacturer's name and the game title of each existing machine. A machine will not have legacy status unless this information is submitted to the Commission prior to 1 December.

More detail about information that is required, how it can be submitted, and a spreadsheet on which the information can be provided is available on the Commission's website - including an easy to use electronic form for owners wishing to register their legacy machines.

Each legacy gaming machine is required to display its category and that it is a legacy machine. The appropriate legacy labels must be affixed by 1 November 2007 to comply with the Section 240 regulations.

The legacy register will provide a cross-reference against which the legal status of the machine can be checked and will help the Commission to enforce its new powers against illegal operators.  

Each legacy machine must have two labels, one being the serial or asset number and the second being the legacy label. If the machine does not have a serial number or an asset number already attached then it requires a separate identification label. This label must show the post code of the owner, address number or name and a unique five digit number.

Non complex category D machines need not be listed on the legacy register but the machines must still display the legacy/category label.

When the technical standards for legacy machines were published on 1 June 2007 they stated that details of legacy machines should be registered with the Commission by 31 August 2007.  The Commission has moved this deadline to the 1 December 2007 in recognition of the work required to collate and submit the details.

Although the registration deadline has moved to 1 December 2007, legacy machine owners are required to report the details of their legacy machines as at 31 August 2007.

This means for example that if a machine owned by a person on 31 August 2007 is sold after that date but prior to 1 December 2007, it should be included in the submission of the person who owned it on 31 August 2007.