LCCP 3.4.3 remote customer interaction 2017
Request
Please can I request a full copy of the LCCP 3.4.3 remote customer interaction that was active in 2017.
Please can I also request a full copy of the customer interaction guidance - for remote gambling licensees (Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3) for 2017.
If any of this information is already in the public domain,please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
- A full copy of the LCCP 3.4.3 remote customer interaction that was active in 2017.
- A full copy of the customer interaction guidance - for remote gambling licensees (Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3) for 2017.
Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. Please see the below links to information falling within the scope of your request along with explanatory narrative.
In February 2018, the Gambling Commission published customer interaction guidance for remote gambling operators. This followed a review of current practice and set out the Commission’s interpretation of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), which is the rulebook for operators, in relation to the version of Social Responsibility code provision 3.4.1 which was in force at the time. The guidance expanded more explicitly on what we mean by the process of customer interaction, specifically:
- More clarity on what should trigger or prompt an interaction.
- A greater emphasis on the importance of interacting appropriately and in good time.
- The need to evaluate the impact of the interaction on the customer's activity, and continually review and assess the effectiveness of the approach.
Some suggestions based on research and current practice on how to meet our expectations and some key questions to consider were also included. Feedback from stakeholders indicated that this guidance was well received, and that equivalent guidance for customer interaction in non-remote gambling would be welcomed. We did not propose changes to the LCCP at that time because we wanted to continue to establish the evidence base and better understand current customer interaction practices in the non-remote sectors.
There was no requirement for operators to act upon the guidance, it was introduced as a reference tool only.
In February 2019 we consulted on changes to our LCCP customer interaction requirements, with the intention of raising industry standards and accelerating progress around customer interaction to prevent harm to consumers. It was clear from our compliance and enforcement casework that many parts of the industry were still not carrying out the basics, and some customers remained at a higher risk of experiencing harms associated with gambling, which continued to be under-detected.
Weaknesses remained across the remote and non-remote sectors in identifying and interacting with customers who may be experiencing harm associated with gambling. These weaknesses were largely consistent across many operators, in some cases with repeated failings by single operators. This suggested that some operators were not fully taking into account, the lessons learned from enforcement cases to improve their own policies and procedures, and that identifying and reducing the risk of harm still presented a significant challenge.
We proposed to introduce a requirement to LCCP that licensees must take into account the Commission’s guidance on customer interaction. This guidance was structured along the three key outcomes operators would be expected to meet: to identify – interact – evaluate. The purpose of guidance was to share knowledge based on research, current practice and lessons learned in order to support operators in determining how they can meet the outcomes. Not all of the content of the guidance would be relevant to all operators, but we expected licensees to take it into account and be able to demonstrate how they had done so.
Following feedback from stakeholders, we produced separate guidance for remote and non-remote gambling.
This was because while the principles behind effective customer interaction are the same, the way in which gambling harms manifest themselves, how those behaviours are observed, and the methods for interaction and evaluation, can be different.
The remote guidance ceased to be in effect from 11 September 2022 but the non-remote guidance remains live and can be found here.
Our consultation response from July 2019 can be found here.
We issued additional formal guidance during May 2020 on customer interaction for remote operators as a response to national lockdowns and changes to how consumers gambled during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. It ceased to be in effect from 11 September 2022.
In November 2020 we published a Remote customer interaction – Consultation and Call for Evidence on the steps operators should be required to take to identify customers at risk of harm and the action they should take as a result. The outcome was the introduction of significantly stronger requirements for operators on how they identify harm and vulnerability, the types of triggers and action they must include in their algorithms and a requirement for the application of automated solutions in some circumstances. The requirements mostly came into effect in September 2022 as Social Responsibility Code 3.4.3. New guidance which operators are required to take account of would be issued to help them understand and comply with the requirements.
An update on the work was published in May 2021 setting out next steps which included proceeding as planned with a consultation on thresholds for operators to take action and guidance on what those actions should be.
The Commission does not always consult on guidance. On this occasion, there was a specific opportunity to use the consultation exercise to explore recent experiences of stakeholders in the implementation of a set of new requirements and we hoped that there would be examples of good practice to share during the consultation period. In November 2022 we opened a Remote customer interaction consultation on the guidance document. We were keen to hear from stakeholders about any experiences of the implementation of the new requirements and about any ways in which the proposed guidance could be improved. Our response including the updated guidance was published on 23 August 2023 and the requirements which directly cross-referred to the guidance came into effect on 31 October 2023.
The Commission recently consulted further on customer interaction requirements and how operators identify customers at risk of financial harm, with a focus on financially vulnerable customers and tackling binge gambling and significant unaffordable gambling over time, working with the Government. The consultation closed in October 2023 and our response has not yet been published.
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