Consultation response
Changes to the licence conditions and codes of practice on age and identity verification for remote gambling
A summary of the responses to our consultations on changes to LCCP on age and identity verification for remote gambling.
Contents
- Executive summary
- Introduction
- Summary of responses – age verification
- - Proposed changes to social responsibility code provision 3.2.11
- - Proposed changes to social responsibility code provision 3.2.13
- Summary of responses – identity verification
- Additional call for information - mandatory account limits
- Annex A: New licence conditions and amended social responsibility codes of practice
Executive summary
We exist to safeguard consumers and the wider public by ensuring that gambling is fair and safe. We are focusing on a number of priorities to achieve this as set out in our Strategy 2018-21 to:
- protect the interests of consumers
- raise standards in the gambling market
- improve the way we regulate.
We have considered all the responses to our consultation on changes to the Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) relating to age and identity verification for customers of remote gambling. We have decided to strengthen requirements on remote gambling licensees in order to ensure gambling is fair and safe for consumers.
The changes can be summarised as follows:
Age verification
We will require remote licensees to verify the age of any customer before the customer can:
- deposit funds into an account
- access any free-to-play games the licensee may make available
- gamble with the licensee with either their own money or a free bet or bonus.
These changes to LCCP will apply to remote betting and gaming operators, as well as lotteries (other than those lotteries that only offer subscription or low frequency lotteries).
Identity verification
We will introduce a new licence condition that requires remote licensees to:
- verify, as a minimum, the name, address and date of birth of a customer before allowing them to gamble
- ask for any additional verification information promptly
- inform customers, before they can deposit funds, of the types of identity documents or other information that might be required, the circumstances in which the information might be required, and how it should be supplied to the licensee
- take reasonable steps to ensure that information on their customers’ identities remains accurate.
As with the requirements for age verification, this new licence condition will apply to remote betting and gaming operators, as well as lotteries (other than those lotteries that only offer subscription or low frequency lotteries).
We also used our consultation to ask for any information or evidence of good practice that helps licensees and customers to ensure gambling remains fair and safe. This was to inform any future proposals that we might develop that would require licensees to set limits on customers’ gambling activity which can only be changed once the licensee has verified further information about the customer.
We received responses from licensees, consumers and third parties to this call for information, and we will use the feedback to continue to develop our work in this area. We will continue to engage with remote gambling licensees and encourage collaboration in the development of approaches to assess the levels of gambling that a customer might be able to afford. This will form part of our broader work with licensees and financial institutions to better understand the range of data that can be accessed and how it could inform mandatory limit setting, before we consider consulting on options at a later date.
We note that many consumers raised concerns in response to the call for information, particularly around the imposition of account limits by licensees and the related issues of data security and privacy. In progressing our work in this area, we will consider the balance that may be needed between allaying these concerns and the opportunities for stronger consumer protections that could be delivered.
Next steps
Following careful consideration of the responses received during the consultation, we will be implementing the proposals with some amendments.
Having published the outcome of the consultation, we will notify those licensees affected by any of the changes. These changes to the LCCP will take effect from 7 May 2019.
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AV CI consultation responses: Introduction
Last updated: 1 September 2021
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