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  • Online Casino UK Operator Handed £3.4M Fine

    Gambling has been a popular form of entertainment for hundreds of years. With their popularity forever growing, you will find some fantastic UK casino brands for you to play at. As a result, you will often see that online casino UK sites often set the precedent for casinos everywhere. This may be down to the high standards and therefore, high-quality games that are available to UK players. One of the things that online casinos do to gain popularity is offer bonuses. With welcome bonuses usually being the biggest offers, it is no surprise that there is a huge amount of variety between them. 

    As online gambling is so popular in the UK, there are always new casinos opening. However, experienced gamers know these will not be around for long. Being one of the most competitive industries, new online casino UK websites often struggle after the first year. However, some notable ones like https://www.casimboo.com/ have managed to survive. Especially with the past year being so difficult for everyone. Although there seems to be such a low success rate on casino launches. It does not seem to put anyone off from trying. Online casinos that have just entered the market need to have a thorough understanding of the rule and regulations. With many rules governing the behaviour of casinos, all must be followed. 

    Regulating the Online Casino UK Market

    With so many casinos launching in the UK online casino industry, there needs to be some kind of authority to regulate them. While a customer can read reviews such as this review of JeffBet.com to see if it is a legitimate casino, customers can still make mistakes. The responsibility to regulate casinos falls into to the hands of the Gambling Commission. They have the power to make and enforce any new rules to combat bad business practices. Any rules they create go through a process of discussion and thorough data research. Some of the recent regulations that have been passed include stricter rules on no deposit bonuses, a ban on using credit cards as a payment option has also been recently implemented by the Commission.

    The rules that are made must be followed. Being regulated, means they are written within the laws of the country. Therefore, not following them can have some serious consequences. The Gambling Commission is the one that hand out the punishments to any online casino UK site found breaking regulations. These punishments will most often come in the form of a fine, often reaching into the millions. However, in rare cases casinos that repeatedly break rules may have their license revoked. With the Gambling Commission being so strict, it is no surprise that it is regarded as the safest for players.

    In-Touch Games Ltd Fined For Failings

    A recent example of an online casino UK operator being fined for not adhering to the rules comes straight from the Gambling Commission. The operator in question is In Touch Games Limited. They run a number of popular online casinos such as drslot.co.uk, mfortune.co.uk, and mrspin.co.uk among others. However, a recent investigation found multiple failings within these casinos including social responsibility, money laundering, and marketing failures. As a result of this, In Touch Games Ltd received an official warning and well as being ordered to pay a 3.4M fine. 

    Some of the failings include, tempting customers with a bonus to provide identification, and not putting their policies and procedures in place when 7 players showed indications of problematic gambling. If they had been following regulations, they should have imposed limits on those customer accounts. All of these are seen as socially irresponsible on the operator’s part and seen as very serious in the Gambling Commissions’ view. There were also money laundering failings reported in this report. Because of this failure, it led to an inappropriate lack of due diligence, as well as, neglecting to perform reviews of Source of Funds information to do with crypto-currencies.

    Marketing failures were also found. As a result, In Touch Games Ltd conducted an SMS marketing plan. Therefore, it was found that they had failed to state the minimum and maximum deposits in the offer’s significant terms. They had also failed to state that the offer was also a time-limited bonus for players.

    What Does This Mean For Online Casinos?

    With In Touch Games Ltd also being ordered to conduct a full audit at their own expense, the fine is not the only punishment for them. With casinos being very popular in the market, they do give a lot of profit to the operator. As a result, it is expected that they will be able to absorb the fine issued. Although it may not put them out of business, they will see a slowing of development for a while. Along with the full audit order, they will not be improving the service until this is done. However, this does set a precedent in the industry. 

    Other casinos in the market will not be affected by the fine that has been issued. Although it does give a gentle reminder to online casino UK sites. A reminder that the Gambling Commission is always ready to take action on those who do not follow the regulations they enforce. Even though the whole country has been in lockdown, the Commission has still been working hard to keep players protected. This comes as a sharp rise in online players has been noticed. One thing that can be said is that many casinos will have nothing to worry about. As long as they are following the rules set out by the Gambling Commission there is no cause for concern. Finding a safe casino that follows the regulations is key to having an enjoyable gambling experience.

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