Gambling Commission warns operators: complete your regulatory return by Wednesday or risk a £100 financial penalty
Press release
Date: 15 December
2008
Gambling operators who have held a licence since 1 September
2007 and whose first annual regulatory return is overdue have been
warned by the Gambling Commission that they risk a financial
penalty of £100 if their returns are not submitted by midnight on
Wednesday.
To avoid any financial penalty operators must ensure the
returns, which can be completed using the secure
online regulatory returns service or by printing off and
completing a form by hand, must reach the Commission by Wednesday
17 December at the latest.
Operators who have completed their first annual regulatory
return need take no further action. Casino operators, larger
betting operators and those licensed to offer remote betting, bingo
or casino gambling to the public (including telephone betting) are
required to submit returns each quarter and need not submit an
annual return in addition to their existing quarterly returns.
The Gambling Commission’s Director of Regulation Nick Tofiluk
said:
“Having already sent written reminders to operators, we have
recently contacted operators by telephone to remind them of this
requirement under the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of
Practice.
"Operators have had every opportunity to make their return which
first fell due by late October. We recommend they use the
secure online regulatory returns service to complete their return
by Wednesday to avoid regulatory action or the risk of a financial
penalty.”
The majority of operators have already completed their first
annual regulatory return. The Commission wrote to those who had not
yet completed a return on 4 December and warned they would be the
subject of regulatory action unless a regulatory return was
submitted by 17 December 2008. The Commission has also made a
telephone call to operators to warn them of the potential financial
penalty.
If a financial penalty is imposed, operators will still be
expected to provide a regulatory return and continued failure to
provide a return may result in a review of their operating licence.
This could result in a range of further sanctions and ultimately
revocation of their licence.
A guide on completing the return for each industry sector is
available on the Commission’s website. Operators need to complete a
regulatory return for each sector that they operate in. For
example, an arcade operator running five Family Entertainment
Centres and one Adult Gaming Centre would need to submit one return
recording the total of the data from all the FEC premises, along
with one return for the single AGC premises.
In broad terms each return requires a financial overview of the
amount of gambling activity undertaken and details of key
regulatory events in the past year. The specific details differ for
each industry sector.
The information collected is vital to enable the Commission to
monitor the industry and individual operators. It is processed for
the purposes necessary for the Commission to carry out its
functions and meet its legal obligations. Financial and other
information provided in confidence will be stored securely and the
confidential nature of the information will be respected.
The secure
regulatory returns service allows an operator to register with
a unique password and to build up their regulatory return over time
before sending in the final version. Paper copies of the form can
be posted out to operators who call (0121) 230 6666 or email
regulatory.returns@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.
Notes to editors
The Gambling Commission
- 1. The Gambling Commission (the Commission) regulates gambling
in the public interest. It does so by keeping crime out of
gambling, by ensuring that gambling is conducted fairly and openly,
and by protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed
or exploited by gambling. The Commission also provides independent
advice to government on gambling in Britain.
- 2. The Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating
all gambling in Great Britain other than the National Lottery and
spread betting, which are the responsibility of the National
Lottery Commission and the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
respectively.
- 3. Details of the requirements for each sector can be found on
the Gambling Commission
website.
- 4. The requirement to provide the Commission with information
is a requirement for all licensees under Licence Condition 15. Any
operator who refuses to comply, risks action by the
Commission.
- 5. Casino operators and operators of more than 50 betting shops
are required to complete their returns on a quarterly basis as are
those licensed to offer remote betting, bingo or casino to the
public.
- 6. Operators who have held a licence since 1 September 2007 and
who were not required to complete a quarterly return were required
to complete their first annual regulatory return within 28 days of
the completion of their first year of operation under the new Act.
This date was 28 October 2008.
Further information
Further information is available from the Commission’s
website.
John Travers on (0121) 230 6700, (07852) 124624 or communications@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.