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3 Protection of children and other vulnerable persons

3.2.7 - Betting SR code

Applies to:

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 to 7: all non-remote betting and remote betting intermediary (trading rooms only) licences.

Paragraph 3: all non-remote betting licences (except general betting (limited) licences) and remote betting intermediary (trading rooms only) licences.

Paragraph 8: non-remote pool betting licences.

Paragraph 9: non-remote general betting (standard) licences in fee category C or above.

Social responsibility code

Compliance with these is a condition of licences; therefore any breach of them by an operator may lead the Commission to review the operator’s licence with a view to suspension, revocation or the imposition of a financial penalty and would also expose the operator to the risk of prosecution.

  1. Licensees must have and put into effect policies and procedures designed to prevent underage gambling, and monitor the effectiveness of these.

  2. This must include procedures for:

    1. checking the age of apparently underage customers
    2. removing from adult-only licensed premises anyone who appears to be underage and cannot produce an acceptable form of identification
    3. taking action when there are attempts by under-18s to enter adult-only premises
    4. refusing entry to any adult-only area of a track to anyone unable to produce an acceptable form of identification
    5. taking action when there are unlawful attempts to enter the adult-only areas.
  3. Licensees must ensure that their policies and procedures take account of the structure and layout of their gambling premises

  4. Licensees must not deliberately provide facilities for gambling in such a way as to appeal particularly to children or, except in the case of football pools, young people, for example by reflecting or being associated with youth culture.

  5. In premises restricted to adults, service must be refused in any circumstances where any adult is accompanied by a child or young person.

  6. Licensees must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all staff understand their responsibilities for preventing underage gambling. This must include appropriate training which must cover all relevant prohibitions against inviting children or young persons to gamble or to enter gambling premises, and the legal requirements on returning stakes and not paying prizes to underage customers.

  7. Licensees must only accept identification which:

    1. contains a photograph from which the individual can be identified
    2. states the individual’s date of birth
    3. is valid
    4. is legible and has no visible signs of tampering or reproduction.
  8. In the case of non-remote pool betting licensees, where pool entries or payments are collected door to door by the licensee or the licensee’s authorised agent the licensee’s procedures must include procedures for: a checking the age of apparently underage entrants to the pool; and b taking action when there are unlawful attempts to enter the pool.

  9. Licensees must conduct test purchasing or take part in collective test purchasing programmes, as a means of providing reasonable assurance that they have effective policies and procedures to prevent underage gambling, and must provide their test purchase results to the Commission, in such a form or manner as the Commission may from time to time specify.

Read additional guidance on the information requirements contained within this section.

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