UK Gambling Commission cracks the whip on consumer law, ad breaches

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will no longer treat consumer law and advertising breaches with kid gloves starting October 31.

Britain’s gambling watchdog warned operators on Wednesday against breaking advertising rules or breaching consumer laws as they prepare to implement new gambling rules in autumn.

UK’s current gambling rules provides that the gambling commission may only penalize operators for their misleading advertisements. Once the new rule takes effect on October, UKGC said it will be allowed impose unlimited fines against operators for ads that glamorize gambling or promote the games to children. Gambling operators may be hit with hefty fines for the advertising failings of their third party affiliates, according to the UKGC.

UKGC will also set an eight-week deadline for operators to resolve complaints with customers. It admitted that it faced several challenges in taking actions for breaches of consumer law in the past due to the limitations of the existing gambling rules.