Anybody who wants to play online slots will undoubtedly be affected by gambling regulations to some degree. Gambling laws in the UK are occasionally updated, with some new laws having a profound impact on the industry, both for the casino providers and the consumer. Gambling laws are important as they serve to protect casino-goers from potential addiction, as well as ensuring fair practice among online casino sites. Nonetheless, new gambling regulations are felt by some to limit the freedoms of online casinos to provide certain offers to consumers. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant new gambling laws UK in recent years.
Ban on Credit Cards
If you are already a keen online slots player, you are likely to be familiar with this particular new gambling law which came into effect on 14 April 2020. Following a review by The Gambling Commission of online gambling and a further public consultation, a law has been implemented banning the use of credit cards to deposit with casino sites. The department estimated that 800,000 Brits used credit cards to gamble, with 22% of these being considered problem gamblers. With potential debts being racked up far more easily on a credit card, the practice was considered to be potentially harmful for vulnerable gamblers.
As a result, you will notice that when depositing funds to your casino account from now on, you will not have the option to use your credit card. Nonetheless, there are a variety of efficient payment methods now in place to keep the process simple. Typical debit card depositing is still widespread in addition to new and innovative methods such as pay by mobile options, which allow players to simply enter the phone number and have their deposits linked to their mobile bill. The ban is likely to help a considerable number of people who used their credit recklessly and will help to keep online gambling both safe and fun.
Tax on Free Spins
When it comes to signing up for online slots, players are privy to a range of promotional offers to kickstart their experience. Often, online casinos will offer free spins when a player makes their first deposit. Outside the world of online slots, betting companies typically offer free bets as reward for players choosing their site to sign up and deposit with. However, gambling regulations have affected these types of free play offers in recent years. As a result, you may have noticed more modest or indeed fewer free spins offers, meanwhile no deposit offers are now very hard to come by. More on wagering regarding offers such as the 500 starburst spins at Star Slots.
This change is a result of the Finance Bill of 2017, a set of gambling laws stating that free spins and plays were to be taxed. The law was said to be intended to bring gambling regulations around free spins in line with existing rules on free bet taxes. While the new gambling laws have led to increased revenue for HMRC, casino sites have felt that it has added an extra burden on top of previously implemented tax hikes. No deposit bonus offers have therefore dropped markedly from the casino sphere, due to these new laws stating that casino sites must pay taxes on them. Casino-goers have therefore had less to choose from in some ways, but casino sites have managed to adapt and continue to offer exciting promotional offers for new and existing players, with this remaining a point of competition between sites.
Age Verification Regulation
In 2019, gambling regulations around age verification were toughened up to equalise the playing field. As you will be aware, participants must be 18 to gamble either online or at a brick and mortar betting shop or casino. However, until recently, the methods online casinos users to verify age varied significantly and caused some issues for consumers. For instance, The Gambling Commission found in 2018 that some customers were unfairly treated due to an absence of consistent gambling regulations on this matter. Many customers were not able to withdraw funds until they had provided age verification ID. With age verification sometimes being a timely process, many were left waiting without significant sums of money.
New gambling laws passed last year confirmed operators would require age verification from customers prior to their first deposit, to ensure that withdrawal of funds was kept seamless from that point on. The use of Know Your Customer has also tackled the 72-hour window some operators required customer to confirm their age within, as some had lost out on winnings for not completing within the time. Simple gambling laws are needed on this issue, ensuring that customers can focus on the entertainment aspects of online casino gambling. If you feel that you know enough, access the top slot games of the UK market here.
