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Nick Arron is the lead partner of Poppleston Allen’s Gambling Team and he urges all stakeholders to make their voices heard as the UK Gambling Commission launches its consultation on new gaming machine rules
This week, the UK Gambling Commission announced a 16-week public consultation to solicit input on new proposed rules for gaming machines at retail outlets.
The consultation is centered on technical standards, testing strategies and consumer protection. The consultation will end on 20 May.
Nick Arron is the lead partner of the Betting and Gambling Team for Poppleston Allen. He encouraged all stakeholders, such as operators and licencees, to express their opinions on the impact and costs that these proposed changes may have.
He said, “Robust stakeholder involvement is an important part this progress.” Operators’ input is crucial to ensuring that regulatory frameworks balance consumer safety with industry sustainability.
“Changes require that affected businesses update their processes, technologies and procedures to ensure they are implemented on time.
As this consultation continues, operators will have to consider the costs and benefits of adopting the new standards. The intention of the changes is to improve consumer protection. However, the business must assess the financial and operational implications.
While the Gambling Commission initiative is a good step towards prioritising the safety of consumers, the real challenge lies in ensuring that proposed regulatory adjustments can be managed by businesses who already operate on thin margins.
Tim Miller, Gambling Commission Executive Director for Research and Policy, said that: “We acknowledge that regulatory changes which impact on the design of machines may come at considerable cost.
We encourage consumers, gambling companies and other groups interested to provide evidence that can help us measure both the likely regulatory impact of the proposed changes as well as the likely cost of implementing them.
This evidence will help make a robust evaluation on whether benefits for consumers are proportionate with the costs involved.
