A ban on using credit cards to fund online gambling and a levy on operators to fund addiction treatment are some of the last-minute proposals being considered by the UK government as part of a review of gambling regulation according to a news article on The Guardian website.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is due to make a decision on a number of regulatory measures for gambling. Changes to the maximum bet on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT’s) has been the most contentious issue, as speculation is growing that the maximum stake will be reduced from £100 (€114 or $141) to £2 (€2.3 or $2.8).
According to research by leading problem gambling charities there are an estimated 430,000 problem gamblers in the UK. One of the main reasons for the call to ban credit cards for betting online is it is understood to “significantly increases the risk gamblers will gamble more than they can afford”.
Charities GambleAware and Citizen’s Advice have both raised their concerns with the ‘hidden addiction’ affecting everyday lives. Their research suggests that the estimated 430,000 problem gamblers could rise to as much as 2m adults if tough reforms are not made to the gambling industry as a whole.