The fast evolution of the gambling industry in the UK was soon to make the government realize the risk that the entire population is facing regarding gambling addiction. Thousands of people have gone bankrupt, and millions are at risk of losing their resources to this addiction which has now been considered a mass disorder.
To keep the situation in check, the government took a step toward public welfare by entrusting the United Kingdom Gambling Commission to put an end to the dangling threat. This Commission aims to enforce the law and maintain regulations that are pre-selected by the government.
Customer Compliance Service
Right after the UKGC introduced the Alternative Dispute Resolution Scheme, the government started reviewing the existing complaint lodging procedures in the gambling industry. This ensured the services and apps offered by the gambling industry were legit and in favour of the customers. This step led to the rise of new and improved laws to come into play in the year 2015.
To protect the customers further from the discrepancies of terms and conditions applied. Also for settling any misunderstanding between the customer and operator, customer compliance services were available to them for free. The complaints can be made directly using the UKGC website dedicated to any dispute resolution purpose.
GamStop Self Exclusion
GamStop is the primary step one is suggested to take right after recognizing any problem with gambling. It is an independently operating self-exclusion scheme to help a vulnerable gambler take control of the situation and practice exclusion for the time being. Gambling is an impulse-driven activity that is much more likely to get out of hand if done in a carefree manner. It is essential to have full control of one’s activities and take action immediately if any impulse issue is noticed.
As a step towards public welfare, the government made GamStop free from all charges to the punters within the UK. Using GamStop, one is free to select their exclusion span, ranging from six months to even up to five years. CasinoGap revealed information that UK players use to search for casinos not on GamStop to continue gambling. According to the revised rules of UKGC, operators are compulsorily expected to comply with the self-exclusion scheme of GamStop in order to provide protection to the punters all over the UK. If an operator fails to abide by these rules, their license comes under the risk of termination.
Funds Protection
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission makes sure the customer funds are under complete protection and there is no room for illegitimate deduction or any other discrepancies. One of the standards that the Commission upholds for all the operators under the UK government is that they should have a separate fund for players and how their finances are structured.
This is important for the time if the casino operator is subjected to undergoing bankruptcy. Having a separate player fund will ensure the players that their funds are in safe hands. Hence, high importance is given to the protection of funds belonging to the customers.
Moreover, the player’s personal data, as well as transactional data, are always protected in the hands of UKGC as they maintain some strict rules regarding data security. This is to ensure the players that even after various cyber attacks their personal data are not subjected to disclosure.
Help to Stop Receiving Unwanted Messages
In addition to all the above-mentioned services, the UKGC helps in filtering the emails one is receiving. It is possible to receive unwanted emails from illegitimate or unidentifiable sources with gambling ads for active gamblers. One can unsubscribe to these emails and can alternatively get in touch with the operator to ensure no further emails are sent.
Moreover, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission is now helping people with a blocking system that filters out all these undesired emails. The helpline number provided to the customers through the websites is effective in banning such marketing emails. One can either forward the spam text to 7726, others can directly report it to the commissioner’s office, or even text STOP to a 5 digit number to make sure no more spam emails or messages reach the troubled customer.
Conclusion
There are several more ways in which the United Kingdom Gambling Commission protects punters in the UK but the above-mentioned ones are considered the most important and essential.