The UK government has opened a consultation on the use of Category D gaming machines and licensing for bingo establishments.
If you remember, the UK government has been working on the Gambling White Paper Reforms, which set out the government’s plan for gambling reform going forward.
Potential reform is already on the horizon, with alleged tax rises to remote games and in betting shops believed to be announced next month. There are also new rules for dishing out fines and penalties that came into law last week, and changes to casino deposits coming on October 30th.
What are Category D Machines?
Category D gambling machines are the lowest stake machines allowed in the UK. These are machines you’d find in family-friendly establishments.
They include fruit machines and coin pushers.
Down your local, you’d be surprised to know you don’t need a UKGC license to operate them. However, this depends on the establishment, and UK citizens will need licenses from their local council to operate.
Now, the government is rethinking these rules, following rising concerns over underage gambling. Just today, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) have updated their guidance on protecting under-18s in gambling and lotteries advertising.
What Is Being Proposed?
There are two suggestions for what can happen with these machines. They can either:
- Stay exempt from licensing rules, like they currently are.
- Or the removal of the exemption, meaning these machines would need to gain a license.
The regulatory worries have prompted the potential for the exemption to be removed.
Less important but still included in the consultation is the licensing of bingo venues. But this is not about the license; it’s about the requirement that gambling venues must offer bingo, but the definitions of bingo have changed over the years.
In this case, the government is considering whether the licensing surrounding bingo is fair, and if it has the correct meaning, or if the blurred meaning is causing harm to small operators or community groups.
Thoughts on the consultation and the proposed changes will be given and recorded until December 2025.
What this means is the government wants evidence on the current rules for Category D machines and bingo venues.
What they want to know is how the proposed new rules could affect the businesses that supply those games, and how to work on protecting consumers as well as the industry.
While these measures are less significant than the other Gambling White Paper Reforms, the government must consider how changes economically affect the industry, as well as consumers.
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport assured that any changes will be based on evidence provided by those who respond to the consultation.
All we can say is we hope they don’t start requiring licenses for game machines down at the pub. That feels criminal!
