The gambling industry is booming and thanks to today’s technology, people from anywhere in the world can easily place their bets online.
The UK has always been one of the biggest gambling markets worldwide. In 2018, UK’s gross gambling yield already reached over 14 billion dollars and many have thought that it will be smooth sailing for the country’s gambling sector for a long time. However, the popularity of gambling in the UK also poses a great risk to its locals. This is why the UK Gambling Commission is starting to step up and implement stricter rules.
Meanwhile, in India, even if local online gambling operations are restricted, Indians are still free to place their bets offshore. Sports betting is quickly becoming popular in the country as it is a country that loves sports like cricket. The locals would forage the top IPL betting app reviews to find offshore bookies where they can place their bets and UK gambling operators are usually their go-to.
Knowing that the UK is starting to implement stricter rules, gambling companies are starting to prepare for the worst. While the market is still huge in the UK, they are starting to slowly shift their focus in going outside the country and India just might have the market they are after.
Why India?
India’s population is one of the biggest worldwide with over 1.3 billion people. Around 700 million of the population are internet users and this number is projected to go up to 974 million by 2025. It is estimated that India has over 420 million mobile internet users and this means a lot to many gambling companies.
For a long time now, we’ve been hearing that mobile is the future of the gambling industry and where the mobile market is huge, these gambling companies will surely get involved. Indians love sports and gambling. Sports betting is doing well in the country but casino games are also becoming more popular too.
This is why many offshore casinos are starting to target more Indians by offering traditional card games like Teen Patti and Indian Rummy. Online gambling is not heavily regulated in the country. While it’s illegal to run local online gambling operations here, offshore casinos and bookies are still free to offer their services to the locals as long as they accept Indian Rupees as a mode of payment.
With that, it’s easy to understand why many gambling companies are eying India as the next biggest gambling market.
New Rules in the UK
The UK Gambling Commission may seem like it is starting to become frenemies with the UK gambling operators. However, the UKGC just really wants to make sure that the locals are safely gambling. It is hoping to lessen the risks that gambling comes with since it is a common activity in the country.
In 2020, the UKGC has banned the use of credit cards in any gambling activities. This would help the locals avoid getting into debt because of problematic gambling behaviors. To protect minors, the UKGC also required gambling operators to strengthen their verification process.
Online casino customers are now required to submit valid IDs to make sure that no minor will be given access to gambling activities. This means that the operators shouldn’t offer any services to a new customer without going through the verification process which may take up to 72 hours.
When lockdowns were implemented in the UK, the UKGC was also made aware that online gambling activities have spiked up. Because of this, they required the online operators to keep track or check on their customers who have been gambling for over an hour a day.
Recently, another rule is designed to ensure the safety of online casino players. They will also now require operators to display the total wins and losses of a player. This should be implemented before October 31, 2021.
The UKGC said that they are aiming to address the concern over slot games online as it accounts for 70 percent of the gambling activities in the UK. These slot machine games also have the highest average losses per player compared to other gambling activities. Reverse withdrawals could also be banned soon.
The gambling commission is also looking into banning gambling companies from sponsoring the shirts of the football and darts players. However, this may be resisted by not only the gambling companies but also the sports clubs themselves as they have always heavily relied on sponsorship income.
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