Complaints and Mental Health
Request
- Misleading RTP Presentation:
a. The number of complaints received by the Gambling Commission relating to misleading, unclear, or incomplete Return to Player (RTP) information presented on land-based gaming machines (specifically Category B3).
b. Copies or summaries of those complaints (with personal details redacted if necessary).
c. Any resulting regulatory actions, guidance updates, or enforcement measures taken against operators concerning RTP presentation during this period.
- Mental Health Risk Warnings:
a. Internal policies, guidelines, or expectations issued by the Commission regarding the need for gambling operators to provide visible preventative warnings about the mental health risks associated with gambling (e.g. depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviour).
b. Any regulatory assessments or actions taken against operators for failing to provide such warnings in venues or on machines.
- Banning of Customers from Premises:
a. The number of complaints involving customers being banned not only from gambling areas but from all operator-owned premises (including access to food, restrooms, and parking).
b. Any guidance, policy considerations, or investigations related to the proportionality of such full bans and their compliance with licensing objectives (particularly in relation to vulnerable individuals and essential public services).
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
‘Please provide the following information covering the period from January 2021 to June 2025:
- Misleading RTP Presentation:
a. The number of complaints received by the Gambling Commission relating to misleading, unclear, or incomplete Return to Player (RTP) information presented on land-based gaming machines (specifically Category B3).
b. Copies or summaries of those complaints (with personal details redacted if necessary).
c. Any resulting regulatory actions, guidance updates, or enforcement measures taken against operators concerning RTP presentation during this period.
- Mental Health Risk Warnings:
a. Internal policies, guidelines, or expectations issued by the Commission regarding the need for gambling operators to provide visible preventative warnings about the mental health risks associated with gambling (e.g. depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviour).
b. Any regulatory assessments or actions taken against operators for failing to provide such warnings in venues or on machines.
- Banning of Customers from Premises:
a. The number of complaints involving customers being banned not only from gambling areas but from all operator-owned premises (including access to food, restrooms, and parking).
b. Any guidance, policy considerations, or investigations related to the proportionality of such full bans and their compliance with licensing objectives (particularly in relation to vulnerable individuals and essential public services).’
Firstly, in relation to part one and part three of your request, we must advise that the Gambling Commission are an industry regulator and not an ombudsman. Our role is to consider if a gambling business has breached their licence conditions and we will take regulatory action where appropriate. We do not become involved in or “act upon” individual complaints. This means we do not have the powers to resolve individual gambling complaints or help consumers get their money back. However, all information received helps to build a picture of the gambling industry and support our regulatory functions.
We use evidence from a range of places, including from gambling customers, to build cases against gambling businesses. Information provided to us helps inform our work to raise gambling industry standards and make gambling fairer and safer. Information drawn from complaints raised against operators may be used by the Commission to inform our regulatory approach and determine whether any action may be necessary.
As such, when we receive any information relating to Return to Player (RTP) information or customer banning, we create a record within our records management system, which may be categorised as a consumer complaint. We record more specific details of the complaint in a ‘free text’ field. There is no general categorisation which would encompass the type of complaint you have described in part one and part three of your request. This information is not easily searchable and would require a manual review of each record to identify the information requested.
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for public authorities, such as the Commission, is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
The information that you have requested is not held in one central location. We estimate, in order to identify, locate and retrieve the information relating to the above request, it would take in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract any relevant information in reference to your request.
When a public authority applies the Section 12 exemption to a request, the FOIA guidance specifically states that a public authority should avoid providing any information found as a result of a search as it denies the requestor the right to express a preference as to which parts of the request they may wish to receive within the appropriate time limit. Guidance on the application of section 12 can be viewed here:
Requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit (opens in new tab)
If you are able to refine your request, we may be able to narrow the number of records that we need to search.
Until we are able to process the search of the information you have requested, we are unable to ascertain if other exemptions will apply to any material identified which would also prevent disclosure. Please note, any refined request would be processed as a new request and the 20 working day statutory time limit would apply.
In relation to part two of your request, further information can be found on our website here: Information companies must give you about your account and here: Safer Gambling.
Review of the decision
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.
Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.
If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.
It should be noted that if you wish to raise a complaint with the ICO about the Commission’s handling of your request for information, then you are required to do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with us.
The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission