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Understanding the impact of gambling harm

This formal guidance for remote gambling operators is not current and from 12 September 2022 operators are no longer required to take it into account. It was published in July 2019 and remained in effect from 31 October 2019 to 11 September 2022.

New guidance is available issued in August 2023 under Social Responsibility (SR) Code Provision 3.4.3. This Customer interaction guidance – for remote gambling licensees (Formal guidance under SR Code 3.4.3) is in effect from 31 October 2023, and remote gambling operators are required to take the guidance into account from this date.

In 2018, the Gambling Commission published research (Wardle et al 2018) on understanding the full range of gambling harms and the impact this can have on society. This research defined gambling harms as ‘the adverse impacts from gambling on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and society’. This can include loss of employment, debt and crime – gambling harms can also have detrimental impacts on physical and mental health and relationships, and at its worst, gambling can contribute to loss of life through suicide.

Gambling harms cannot be solely measured in terms of finance and resources. This is why we expect you to use a range of indicators in order to identify customers who may be experiencing harms.

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Identifying the right customers
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Using the right indicators for your business
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