‘Citizens Advice’ Supports Mandatory Levy For Casinos

citizens advice gambling harmCitizens Advice, a group of independent charities consulting people on various issues, has recently published an investigation into gambling addiction. After evaluating the results, they decided to ask for a mandatory levy for casinos to prevent gambling-related issues more effectively. According to them, the current voluntary funding for problem gambling prevention and its related harm isn’t enough.

Doing this, they became the supporters of similar calls initiated last month. The very first to focus the attention on the ineffective taxes that casino operators pay were The Remote Gambling Association (RGA). They were soon joined by GambleAware and The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB). The Senet Group, an independent supporter of responsible gambling, also joined the league in the beginning of 2018.

Although Citizens Advice enacted a research of their own and acted independently, the idea behind this is the same. With another organization backing it up, it now has even more weight. Even the Gambling Commission welcomed this initiative, sharing the news on their official site. This might push these requests even further and actually force the Government to make a decision.


 

Citizens Advice Investigation Reveals Some Interesting Data

mandatory levy for casinosThe investigation that this group published revealed gambling addiction in a different light. Here are some of the conclusions in it. Out of all irresponsible gambling instances, more than every third household with children experiences a family breakdown. Almost 20% of problem gamblers can’t even afford food at some point or another. Half of those affected by problem gambling suffer from various mental illnesses.

Damaged relationships, social isolation and problem debts are also very frequent among vulnerable casino players. To get an idea what these numbers mean, the researchers estimated that around 430,000 individuals are problem gamblers. Yet that’s not all. The harm their behaviour causes to the society affects ten times the number of people, especially family and friends. So that’s over four million people we’re talking about.

The investigation also explores the causes of problem gambling. Another part of it focuses on the effectiveness of current solutions offered by casino operators, namely, self-exclusion and similar options. Clearly, the members of Citizens Advice weren’t happy with the way social responsibility works at online casinos today.

So, they collected enough data to back up their request for a mandatory levy, which is far more powerful than a simple support of the same issue raised earlier by RGA. As for now, the industry itself decides how much to invest into minimising the gambling-related harm. However, much more effective results could be achieved if a statutory levy was in place for all casino operators.

Not only that, the Government has all the right to do this. The section 123 of the Gambling Act clearly states that the state can set how much gambling companies must pay. What the concerned parties want is for the government to actually use this power.

 

The UK Gambling Commission Supports The Initiative

gambling commission resolverAfter having started their three-year plan that focuses on controlling harm arising from gambling, UKGC welcomed this investigation. Tim Miller commented that this report draws attention to people at the extreme end of gambling-related harm. It’s a strong start in understanding the impact of irresponsible gambling beyond the actual gambler, said the Gambling Commission executive.

He further praised the value of this investigation, especially in revealing the cost this issue has on society. It will surely help the regulators understand what they’re dealing with. However, the Commission remained silent on the mandatory levy issue, so we’ll have to wait for their official response a while longer.



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