It’s now looking like the UK Gambling Commission is going to be at the industry’s heels so long as gambling sites continue to slack about monitoring potential cases of problem gambling and, in a larger sense, doing basic, proscribed customer service. In the latest instance of a provider getting dinged, online gambling site Red32 have been hit with a £2 million (more than $2.6 million) fine for failing to comply a UK law requiring providers to have effective anti-money laundering and CSR (corporate social responsibility) provisions in place.
Specifically, Red32 was fined over concerns a single anonymous customer who deposited over £750,000 ($992,000) on the site over a period of roughly two and a half years without, at any time, having a check placed on the source of his funds or on his status as a problem gambler. The Commission found a total of 22 cases on Bet32 where the customer could have been identified as a problem gambler; frequently, the exact opposite action was taken. In other words, instead of being flagged, the player in question was offered a free bonus to continue playing.
According to the UKGC’s press release, these 22 cases specifically included multiple instances of customers communicating directly to Red32 that they had been spending too much, had been chasing losses, and were feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.
The fascinating thing about this specific case is that clearly – and rightly so – the UKGC is singling out and penalising Red32 not only for their lack of (again, legally mandated) oversight, but because of the company’s seemingly intentional, and witheringly cynical, decision to encourage, rather than help, protect problem gambling on a high stakes level. Never mind how often this occurs, undetected, on the micro scale; how widespread is this disposition in the UK gambling industry?
Every time the UKGC levies a massive fine at a major bookkeeper or operator, it’s a body blow to the industry’s rather bruised public image. If this is what’s going on behind the scenes, though, it’s not a stretch to say the industry deserves it. Frankly, good on the Commission for keeping their eye on what can be, at its worst, a very furtive and exploitative industry. It’s hard to excuse or explain away the UK gaming industry’s image issues in light of such fines (and what is, apparently, an ongoing need for them.)
Are these fines onerous? Maybe; as always, it depends on who you’re asking. But it’s nothing more than a destructive, malign, and poisonous approach on the part of gaming providers to try to extract the maximum rake out of a desperate, high-stakes degenerate gambler before they disappear or bust completely. It deserves more than a token action in response, and it would be no surprise to see the Commission flexing their muscles again before the year is out.
