As of the end of October, additional legal standards will be in place that further clarify the procedures that UK gambling companies may use to resolve customer disputes using alternative dispute resolutions, or ADRs. This was laid out by the UK Gambling Commission this week. An ADR is a process which takes place using an independent third party to help resolve disputes between customers and gambling operators without resorting to court – effectively, a mediation.
These extra requirements involve a number of key areas: the type of decisions ADRs may consider, the standards set for the transparency of the process, and the assurance of the ADR provider’s independent status. There are also new standards put forward for measuring consistency and quality of resolution, the overall customer service provided, and the sharing of the data related to complaints.
Furthermore, the UKGC has announced that it will review the current list of accepted ADR providers in light of these new regulations and amend the list as necessary. The Gambling Commission has indicated that they may, after consultation, bring in a legal requirement limiting all ADR providers to the ones listed therein. Consultation on these matters is currently scheduled to begin towards the end of 2019.
This is another example of the UKGC working to close existing loopholes in the system which have, so far, allowed for sloppy customer diligence. They have made clear their reasons for publishing these amendments, along with the accompanying standards and guidelines publication; a recent review conducted by the Commission found that the industry needed to “improve across all areas of complaints handling”.
Failings identified in the review included poor guidance on how players may make complaints, incomplete or inaccurate data on the details of complaints, and poor or inconsistent customer service and decision-making.
