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The Commission has powers to grant, review and revoke licences, impose financial penalties, and prosecute illegal gambling operations. Register with GAMSTOP to self-exclude from all UKGC licensed online gambling sites for a period of your choosing. Suspended or revoked licences mean the operator is not currently authorised to provide gambling services. All UKGC licensed operators must display their licence number in the footer of their website. All gambling operators wishing to offer services to customers in Great Britain must hold the appropriate UKGC licence. Required for businesses providing gambling software, hosting services or technical infrastructure to licensed operators.

It’s everything you need to know to become fully licensed and legally operate in one of the world’s most respected gambling markets. Are you considering the launch of an online casino or sportsbook in the UK? Verify the licence is current and matches the casino’s trading name Every company that provides gambling services to UK customers must hold a UKGC operating licence. However, the UKGC licence also provides access to one of the world’s largest regulated gambling markets and carries a level of credibility that few other jurisdictions can match.

Please see the casino (host), bingo (host), general betting (host) (real events) or general betting (host) (virtual events) licences for further details. Some gambling software businesses provide facilities for remote gambling by making their games or betting content available to customers of other operators. Independent, hands-on reviews of UK Gambling Commission–licensed online casinos.

Ongoing Compliance: Life After Approval

Guidance for small businesses and sole traders running a gambling business. View guidance about what you need to tell us when you apply for a licence Guidance about the information we’ll ask for when applying for a licence. Find out how much it will cost to apply for a licence and ongoing annual fees. Information about the activities we licence, the fees you need to pay and when. If you want to complain about a gambling business or need further help please contact us.

Operator licence fees are different for 1968 Act and 2005 Act casinos. We do not intend on changing any of the requirements placed on operators for when a variation to a premises licence may be required. Currently, the Gambling Commission’s guidance to licensing authorities states that an application for a variation of a premises licence will only be required where there are material changes to the layout of the premises.

We propose to move the voluntary commitment into legislation, introducing a legal age limit of 18 on Category D ‘cash-out’ slot-style machines. In order to future proof the gaming machine industry and adapt to modern payment technologies, we are seeking views on a range of player protections that will ensure players can use modern payment methods whilst mitigating the risk of harm. Without intervention, there is a risk that machines could become obsolete as we move towards a “cashless” society. The white paper proposed to reform the 80/20 rule in response to evidence that the current rule does not allow operators to adequately meet consumer demand, while still providing a balanced product offer to customers.

The consultation asked the following questions on licence fees. We would expect operators to inform the Commission that they are intending to move onto the expanded regime as these changes will have a material impact on an operator’s business. Operators moving onto the new regime would almost certainly result in a material change to the layout of the premises.

Which of the following best describes your interest in gambling policy (select up to two options)? What do you think are the potential impacts of raising licence fees on gambling companies? What do you think are the potential impacts of raising licence fees on licensing authorities? How much funding do you estimate is needed for administration and the enforcement of licences annually? We also require a better understanding of how licensing authorities will amend their fees in response to an increase in the maximum fee cap.

Respondents had differing views on the impact on other gambling products. Contrastingly, respondents from local government, campaign groups and academia were more cautious about any measures which could be seen as increasing the supply of gambling opportunities, due to links between rates of gambling participation and gambling-related harm. We will work with the relevant trade bodies and operators to understand the feasibility of this proposal and the frequency of any reporting to DCMS. This includes ensuring that appropriate safeguards against gambling-related harm are in place. In addition, operating costs have risen significantly over this period, especially as a result of rising energy costs, which have increased by over 225% for some operators.

Laws and regulations vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change. Explore casino KYC requirements, verification process… Besides imposing financial penalties, the Commission has also revoked several gambling licenses in recent years. The Gambling Commission is prioritizing the enforcement of AML regulations by investigating non-compliant companies. Additionally, gambling companies need to comply with the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations. According to these rules, gambling companies must assess the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing in their business.

About the Gambling Commission

Over half of respondents who indicated an intention to move onto the new regime stated they would look to take up the maximum entitlement of 80 gaming machines in at least some of their venues (57%). These respondents also suggested that increasing the availability of gaming machines will not make customers more likely to take breaks, due to the prospect of other customers taking over their machine and claiming their ‘perceived winnings’. This opposition was primarily from industry stakeholders, who argued that the other space requirements and the imposition of a machine to table ratio would ensure a balance between table gaming, machines and non-gambling space. The casino measures section of the consultation received 41 responses from a variety of stakeholders, including gambling operators and trade bodies, local government organisations, campaign groups and academics. We will introduce an age limit of 18 and over for the use of ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style gaming machines.

The minimum table gaming area for Small 2005 Act casinos, which is currently 500sqm, will be reduced to 250sqm to align the minimum space requirements for these different regimes. Allowing 1968 casinos to increase their machine offering above their current allowance of 20 could result in greater customer willingness to take breaks, which will likely increase reflection and reduce risk. This includes many casinos monitoring customer expenditure across all gaming products, enhanced due diligence measures with trigger values for spend and loss applied to customers and algorithmic systems that use predictive models to identify customers at risk. We also intend to permit a smaller increase in machines for venues that do not meet these size requirements, proportionate to overall size and non-gambling area. The white paper set out the government’s intention to bring the two regimes closer together, with similar requirements on machine numbers proportionate to size, non-gambling area and gaming tables. In practice, operators elect to site Category B machines and typically have an offering of 20 Category B1 machines.

• Premises licence fees in Scotland are set under different regulations and are therefore a matter of consideration for the Scottish Government.
• White-label casinos sharing a common platform tend to cluster at similar Domain Score levels, because they’re running on the same underlying infrastructure.
• You could also find licence details listed in the about us section, the help pages, or the responsible gambling page.
• It was established to ensure the safety, legality, and transparency of the Swedish gambling market.

In 2024, the market generated over £15 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY), with remote (online) gambling accounting for more than half. All casinos reviewed are UKGC licensed. All UKGC-licensed casinos must now prompt new customers to set deposit limits during the account registration process.

The demise of this site raised questions of the ability of the Commission to protect UK customers from rogue traders, although overall responsibility for UK online regulation was only given to the UKGC in November 2014. In 2014, the UK-regulated online bookmaker Canbet went into receivership, owing millions to customers. The Gambling Commission has come under fire for not preventing the spread of Fixed odds betting terminals on the high street. An investigation found that the companies failed to put in place effective safeguards to prevent consumers suffering gambling harm and against money laundering between November 2014 and October 2017.

These regulations may, in particular, specify how conditions, including mandatory conditions specified by the Secretary of State, are to appear on the licence. The Secretary of State may make further regulations about the form and content of the licence. 411.Premises licences must include the information described in this section. Pool-betting on a track, by the track occupier, will require a pool betting operating licence to be held. Scottish Ministers will exercise a number of powers under this Part, prescribing procedures and fees for the premises licensing system in Scotland. All online gambling businesses must ask you to prove your age and identity before you gamble.

In December 2023, the Gambling Commission launched a new ‘Tell us something in confidence’ service to report criminal and suspicious activity in the gambling industry. As part of the gambling laws in the UK, licensees must obtain and verify the identity of a customer before permitting them to gamble. Personal licenses cover the key personnel of gambling businesses. The local authority is in charge of determining all the premises’ fees.

The majority of licensing authorities advocated for the maximum proposed premises fee increase of 30%. Following analysis, we propose to increase the maximum premises fees chargeable by licensing authorities by 15%. We received detailed evidence through the consultation process outlining the impacts which increased fees would have on both the ability of licensing authorities to undertake their duties, and the commercial pressures placed on operators. These fees are used on a cost recovery basis to enable licensing authorities to undertake their gambling enforcement and administrative duties. To ensure this, we outlined in the white paper our intention to increase the cap on the maximum chargeable premises fees which can be charged by licensing authorities. The government will make inviting, causing, or permitting under-18s to play ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines a criminal offence through a draft affirmative statutory instrument.

Indeed, we reviewed data  that showed some operators, particularly in the bingo sector where tablets are in widespread use for playing bingo games, have significantly greater numbers of Category B cabinets than Category C and D cabinets. Bacta have argued, however, that the benefits to operators would not be as substantial as those outlined in Option 1. Data provided by industry indicates that this option would achieve to a limited extent the objective of ensuring commercial flexibility. Option 2 would likely remove any incentive for operators to not abide by ‘available for use’ guidance. This proposal outlined in Option 2 would require any such premises to have one Category C or D cabinet for each Category B cabinet it sites. As outlined, the Gambling Commission has expressed concern regarding the adherence of operators to ‘available for use’ guidance.

A support initiative committed to helping victims of offshore casino abuse reclaim their funds and rebuild their lives. What the MGA does, what it does not protect, and the recovery options open to you. But an MGA licence is not a UK licence, so GamStop and the UK dispute routes only apply where a brand also holds a UK Gambling Commission licence. A plain-English guide to whether gambling debts can be enforced in the UK. See our overview of your rights with a casino not on GamStop. If you have already lost money there, you may still have options.

A casino site with a high Domain Score and a high Trust Score is in the strongest position across both dimensions. The screenshot confirms the domain was serving active gambling content and wasn’t pointing at an error page, a parked domain, or an unrelated site. From the operator page, you can access the full Trust Score, licence history, any enforcement record, and the corporate structure cross-referenced with Companies House.

The interaction design of slot machines and table games creates specific compliance obligations that don’t apply to betting or bingo products in casino not on gamstop the same way. The LCCP sets out licence conditions and social responsibility codes that all licensees must follow, but some provisions hit casino operators with particular force. Every UK online casino listed here holds a Remote Casino Operating Licence from the UKGC, but licensing is only the starting point. If you manufacture gambling software, but also provide facilities for gambling only in circumstances in which you host those facilities through other operators’ platforms, then you may be eligible to hold a host operating licence. Remote gambling and software technical standards do not apply to the software you provide for overseas operators who are not licensed by the Gambling Commission.

View licence details, trading names and authorised domains. Before allowing any wagering, operators must confirm a player’s identity. These apply to staff members who perform key roles within gambling organizations. Granted by local councils, these allow physical locations to be used for gambling. Issued by the Gambling Commission, these are mandatory for businesses offering gambling services in the UK. The Gambling Act 2005 is the central legal framework governing gambling.

The Commission found that Camelot had poor fraud prevention controls in place and that it had breached the terms of its licence. In situations where additional investigation is required, the licence can be revoked.citation needed The range of actions that may need to be taken varies from issuing a warning to inflicting a fine on those who violate licence conditions. The proposals were opposed by the gambling industry, including the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association.They also regulate crypto gambling websites and mitigate the risk of money laundering through such sites.