Gambling Commission response to RTS consultation published

The Gambling Commission has published its response to its October 2016 Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS) consultation. Its response document can be downloaded below.

The Commission’s RTS consultation proposed a number of measures designed to ensure that consumers are provided with sufficient information to make informed choices about their gambling activity.

The Commission believes that its revisions to the RTS will:

  • ensure greater consistency and clarity in the information made available to consumers
  • enhance protections afforded to consumers.
  • lay the groundwork for a wider review into new and emerging products and potential links to negative gambling behaviour
  • promote greater consistency in the methods used to protect consumers from the effects of and collusion and other prohibited activities
  • improve fairness and transparency of processes that have a direct impact on consumers
  • align the RTS with consumer protection requirements in the testing strategy (an updated version of which was published in May 2016).

The Commission states at paragraph 1.5 of its responses document (that can be downloaded below):

“The updated RTS (with the changes outlined in this document) is due to be published in June 2017. A number of proposals will come into effect on 1 October 2017, three months from the date at which the updated RTS has been published. Those proposals that require further development work will come into force 1 April 2018 (nine months from the RTS publication date). We have also updated the RTS to reflect changes in the updated testing strategy and to formalise guidance previously provided on the Commission’s blog. These updates and other ‘interim’ measures (eg display of Commission licensed status) will come into force with immediate effect. A summary of implementation dates for each proposal is provided in section 22″.

The implementation timetable is as follows:

Requirements to come into force with immediate effect

  • Restricted display device (not a new requirement)
  • Display of Commission licence status (formalising our interim position)
  • Live RTP monitoring (came into force 1 September 2016 as part of testing strategy updates)
  • Play for fun games (requirement not altered, scope clarified)
  • Reality checks (incorporating existing guidance already published)
  • Live dealer studios (based on existing standards / practice and new requirement makes our position clear)

Requirements to come into force 1 October 2017

  • Peer-to-peer poker
  • Use of third party software
  • Linked progressive jackpots
  • Virtual sports odds
  • Information security standards (security audits submitted after the implementation date will need to include the new requirements)

Requirements to come into force 1 April 2018

  • Display of transactions
  • Gambling account history
  • Display of net deposits
  • Financial limits