Gambling Act 2005 Explanatory Notes
An online casino is a digital platform that lets you play casino games — such as slots, blackjack, roulette, and live dealer games — via a website or mobile app. Finding a trustworthy online casino in the UK has never been more competitive — there are hundreds of licensed sites to choose from, and not all of them are worth your time or money. With our help, you can find new casinos, bonuses and offers, and learn about games, slots, and payment methods.
It is based on your gross gambling yield. The statutory levy is a mandatory payment that funds research, education, and treatment related to gambling harm. For small operators, fees start at £4,224, with higher annual fees for bigger operators.
Information about the activities we licence, the fees you need to pay and when. If you want to complain about a gambling business or need further help please contact us. If you are leaving the British gambling market, the Gambling Commission has expectations of licensees in these situations.
The Gambling Commission has raised concern that some of these machines appear to have been designed primarily to maximise the number of Category B cabinet machines which can be sited by an operator, rather than to provide a genuine lower stake gambling offer to customers. However, to mitigate against gambling-related harm, the reform of the rule also seeks to ensure that a genuine offer of lower staking Category C and D machines remain available for customers. Additionally, the reform seeks to allow operators to reduce their energy costs through the removal of unused but energy intensive Category C and D machines and/or increase GGY through increased numbers of higher yielding Category B machines. Some operators were keen to highlight the increasing cost burden for land-based casinos in other areas, but acknowledged the logic of applying consistency across regimes.
As a first step in licensing a casino, the licensing authority will have to invite applications for any casino premises licences that it may issue. Otherwise, payment processing per se is not licensable under British gambling law and the main restrictions are that land-based bingo and casinos may not offer credit for wagers and remote gambling operators may not accept credit card payments (including through money services providers). Hence, the typical remote gambling business will require three types of British licence to lawfully offer remote gambling to British residents – an “operating” licence, a software “operating” licence and a suite of personal licences for its main personnel. As far as remote gaming and betting is concerned, licences are readily available to suitable applicants.
Holders of personal licences will be required to pay a fee every five years to maintain their licence11. However, as indicated previously, by virtue of section 125 of the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab), in the context of an application for an operating or personal licence, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply to a ‘relevant offence’. For operating licence applications, the Commission will ask for accounts from existing businesses or financial projections where the applicant is a new business. The Commission will not grant an operating licence until it is fully satisfied that the operation will not be financed by the proceeds of crime and that profits from the operation will not be used to finance criminal activity. The persons considered relevant may vary depending on the information provided in the operating licence application and on company structure, but are likely to exercise a function in connection with, or to have an interest in, the licensed activities.
Compliance Requirements After Licensing
As previously discussed, an optimal strategy to combat disassociation when gambling combines breaks in play with safer gambling messaging. (Optional response) Open text box (Optional response)i) Monetary thresholds ii) Time thresholds Sliding scale However, the government believes that there could be benefits to harmonising these measures as part of direct cashless gambling.
Open a review for the detailed test results, or head straight to the casino site. The experts at Online-Casinos.com have tested over 120 casino sites to find perks like fair bonuses, high payout rates, and diverse games. The UKGC implemented this to prevent players from becoming addicted to gambling and spending more than they can afford.
Our gambling and casino AML software helps gambling businesses comply with regulations. UK gambling regulations consist of strict AML policies and complex licensing procedures. You can verify any UK gambling licence using our search tools or by visiting the official Gambling Commission public register at gamblingcommission.gov.uk. The Commission has powers to grant, review and revoke licences, impose financial penalties, and prosecute illegal gambling operations. Suspended or revoked licences mean the operator is not currently authorised to provide gambling services. All gambling operators wishing to offer services to customers in Great Britain must hold the appropriate UKGC licence.
This includes tools to help control your gambling and easy access to problem gambling resources. You should play at licensed casino sites to have a secure, fair, and responsible experience. On receiving the application, we may make a representation to the local licensing authority about it.
As outlined in the table below, we propose that casinos with a gambling area of 280sqm or less are allowed 16 machines, increasing by two machines for every additional 20sqm of gambling space, up to 40 machines. This entitlement will not be restricted by any space requirements or whether the casino has decided to increase its number of gaming machines under the new regime. We do not currently have non gamstop casinos sufficient data to estimate the likely uptake of additional machines by casinos. 1968 Act casinos will only be eligible to site more than 20 machines if their gambling area is at least 280sqm. The number of additional machines that a 1968 Act casino will be entitled to will be determined by the size of all three different areas that have been outlined above – the total gambling area, the table gaming area and the total non-gambling area.
- 45% of respondents would not be happy at all to pay for gambling via cashless payment methods.
- Small 2005 Act casinos will also experience a reduction in their required minimum table gaming area, from 500sqm to 250sqm.
- Do you think premises should adopt voluntary test purchasing as a way to monitor under-18s activity on Category D ‘cash-out’ slot-style machines?
- The firm’s Brussels office provides legal support and lobbies EU decision-makers on behalf of clients on a wide range of matters, including EU copyright, audio-visual regulation, data protection, competition policy, trade and e-commerce.
In 2014, the UK-regulated online bookmaker Canbet went into receivership, owing millions to customers. The Gambling Commission has come under fire for not preventing the spread of Fixed odds betting terminals on the high street. An investigation found that the companies failed to put in place effective safeguards to prevent consumers suffering gambling harm and against money laundering between November 2014 and October 2017. The Commission found that Camelot had poor fraud prevention controls in place and that it had breached the terms of its licence. In situations where additional investigation is required, the licence can be revoked.citation needed The range of actions that may need to be taken varies from issuing a warning to inflicting a fine on those who violate licence conditions.
UKGC Casino License vs Non UKGC Casinos
While the intensiveness of energy expenditure will vary by machine device type and energy efficiency, the costs to industry of maintaining these machines can be significant. The Gambling Commission, however, has pointed to concerns that the industry is intentionally subverting the 80/20 rule for machine games and expressed doubt as to whether some machines represent a genuine commercial offer to customers. The Gambling Commission will also consult on appropriate player protections that should be required on these machines. In addition, we noted that some player safety improvements have been made to modern Category B3 machines which cannot easily be replicated on older machines, and that customers can and do play at lower stakes than the maximum on Category B3 machines. The white paper set out a detailed rationale for the need to reform the current 80/20 rule governing gaming machine allowances in AGCs and bingo halls.
Examples – Operating Licence
As above, 1968 Act casinos will retain the option of continuing to operate under the existing regime should they not wish to increase their machine allocations. We would like to make the process for taking up the entitlement of additional machines as simple as possible for both operators and licensing authorities. Anecdotal evidence shows that only three of the 2005 Act casinos offer betting, representing about 0.2% of the total GGY for each of those casino premises. There has been no evidence that permitting betting in 2005 Act casinos resulted in increased harm, and the Gambling Commission’s view is that permitting sports betting in 1968 Act casinos is unlikely to have any particular impact on the Act’s licensing objectives. There are likely to be indirect costs in the form of displacement from online sports betting as those in casinos who would otherwise have bet on sports using mobile devices may be more inclined to do so using casino services.
We can also analyse average loss and session length data to consider the possible risks of gambling harm for those customers who increase their gambling participation as a result of these measures. Notably, these rates are below the at-risk and problem gambling rates for casino table games (31.5% and 6.4% respectively). • Any non-gambling area may consist of one or more areas within the premisesDo you agree that this should remain the same under the new regime? It is for the Scottish Ministers to consider whether they want to amend the Mandatory and Default Conditions that apply to casinos located in Scotland. Therefore, we would welcome any responses which highlight concerns about this approach and how non-gambling areas could be calculated using a different method.
This will include assessing the role of sessions limits across Category B and C machines alongside safer gambling tools. All options set out in this section are expected to lead to an increase in the total number of Category B machines across bingo and arcade venues. Any measure that increases the availability of Category B machines risks leading to increased gambling harm for those playing on the machines. Although the data on mixed sessions creates some uncertainty, we conclude that overall, Category B machines lead to higher losses than Category C or D machines. On the other hand, the data shows that a substantially higher proportion of sessions on Category B machines ended in a loss over £200, compared to Category C, Category D and mixed machines. For comparison, these rates are above the at-risk and problem gambling rates for bingo games (12.9% and 3.3% respectively), but lower than the at-risk and problem gambling rates for online gambling on slots, casino or bingo games (44.2 % and 8.7% respectively).
The Committee of Advertising Practice, which is responsible for penning advertising codes in the UK, announced new rules aimed at protecting children under the age of 18 from content promoting gambling. By 2013, the UK media regulator Ofcom reported that this approach had led to a seven-fold increase in the number of gambling ads that were aired on the TV. The industry recruits staff to target VIPs and get them to spend more, to contact VIPs who have not gambled for some time and get them to restart gambling, to identify less serious gamblers who could become VIPs and get them to gamble more. In July 2026, the UK changed how gambling penalties would be collected and allocated. The betting industry alone is reported to contribute £6 billion as of January 2010, 0.5% of GDP. Publicans must also be vigilant in ensuring that their customers do not pass betting slips between each other but only bet for themselves.
(Mandatory response) Yes / No / I don’t know (Mandatory response)Yes / No / I don’t know / Not applicable (Optional response)Open text box (Mandatory response)Yes / No / I don’t know If licensing authorities do not feel like they have the powers they need, we would like to know whether any changes could be made to the regulatory framework to address this issue.