UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Bahar Alaeddini, David Whyte and Jessica Wilson, Harris Hagan
• the right to occupy the premises (freehold, lease- hold or tenancy); and • that only one premises licence can apply to par- ticular premises at a time (subject to exceptions).
bound by the same licence conditions and subject to the same codes of practice as the licensee”. SRCP 1.1.3 provides that remote licensees must ensure that third-party user interfaces comply with the RTS. This positive obligation on licensees was confirmed in the White Paper and by the current Gambling Commis- sion’s deputy CEO, Sarah Gardner, who reiterated the obligation on licensees by stating on 15 June 2023 that “many operators” should check “whether appro- priate oversight of affiliates is in place”. 6.4 White Labels See 6.3 Affiliates . The Gambling Commission also provided guidance on how it expects licence holders to conduct white-label partnerships in Section 7 of its Compliance and Enforcement Report 2019–20. 6.5 Technical Measures There are no technical measures in place regarding consumer protection (other than as set out in the RTS and the LCCP) and the Gambling Commission does not have direct powers to enforce either payment or website blocking. However, the Gambling Commis- sion seeks to protect consumers’ rights, through its powers under the Gambling Act 2005 for seeking enforcement action. As part of the White Paper pro- posals, the Gambling Commission will be given new powers to disrupt illegal gambling, including powers to block IP addresses. For further details, please refer to the UK Trends and Development chapter. 7. Responsible Gambling (RG), Also Known as Safer Gambling (SG) 7.1 RG Requirements Responsible gambling – now termed “safer gambling” by the Gambling Commission – remains one of the Gambling Commission’s biggest areas of focus, span- ning licensing, compliance and enforcement. Its over- sight and requirements are broad, meaning they can- not be summarised in this chapter. The focus, which stems from the third licensing objective (protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling), is proper identi- fication and engagement with those who may be at risk of, or experiencing, harm, ensuring that terms and conditions are clear, fair and straightforward for con-
6. Online Gambling 6.1 B2C Licences
Historically, remote operating licences did not reflect the distinction between B2B and B2C business mod- els. B2B operators hosting games through B2C web- sites required a licence authorising remote casino, bingo, betting (virtual events) or betting (real events) – in addition to gambling software – as hosting games constitutes providing facilities for gambling. However, new legislation introduced in April 2017 – namely, the Gambling (Operating Licence and Single- Machine Permit Fees) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017 No 303) – created the following B2B-specific “host” sub- categories: • casinos (game host); • bingo (game host); • general betting (host) (real events); and • general betting (host) (virtual events). Nonetheless, these licences are subject to various requirements, including that: • the company must hold a gambling software oper- ating licence; and • the company must not contract with players directly. 6.2 B2B Licences (Suppliers, Software, Etc) See 6.1 B2C Licences . 6.3 Affiliates Affiliates are not regulated by the Gambling Com- mission, as companies only providing advertising services or branding to a gambling operator do not require an operating licence. SRCP 1.1.2 provides that responsibility for third-party compliance lies squarely with the licence holder, who must ensure that third parties “conduct themselves in so far as they carry out activities on behalf of the licensee as if they were
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