Online Casino Websites & their Regulatory Bodies 

The online world is full of useful websites that offer public services and information. The internet is also a portal to a wealth of entertainment and gambling is a major player in this field.

Standards have to be maintained though, and in an age of sophisticated cybercrimes, the public has to be protected from fraudsters and fake websites. It is especially important when money is involved, and payments to online casinos UK made digitally need to be kept secure.

Gambling Online

If you want to gamble in Europe, for example, you’ll need a bankroll, and if you just want to gamble online, you’ll need to trust that digital payments are secure.

All licensed and regulated online casinos use 128-bit SSL encryption technology to protect punter’s data and payments. This is just one of the many benefits of gambling at a licensed and regulated online casino website.

The UK Gambling Commission 

Different countries have their own gambling regulatory bodies but here in the UK, it is the UK Gambling Commission that is responsible for the licensing and regulating of all types of gambling across the board, including online gambling. In 2003 Labour politician Tessa Jowell raised concerns that gambling laws were out of date and not applicable to the new high-tech world of online gambling. The then Culture Secretary recommended that the laws that governed gambling needed to be updated to reflect the new gambling environment. 

When you consider that the first online casino was introduced in 1996 and the UK Gambling Commission did not see the light of day until September 2007, this long gap was filled with mostly unregulated online casino website practices. Tessa Jowell helped to influence the creation of the UK Gambling Commission which was created under the gambling act of 2005 and its purpose then and now is to regulate all forms of UK gambling on behalf of the Department for Media Culture and Sport. 

Other Functions of The UK Gambling Commission 

Apart from licensing and regulating all forms of gambling in the UK, the commission is also responsible for keeping the criminal element and criminal practices such as money laundering, out of licensed and regulated gambling. They must also ensure that gambling is conducted fairly and that the game developers and the casinos that provide them, test these games regularly for fairness. Sometimes third parties such as eCOGRA are also invited to allow independent testing of gambling products to take place. 

The Gambling Commission is also responsible for protecting children from gambling and this is why there are strict age verification checks before anyone can join a casino. It is not just children that need to be looked after, vulnerable individuals and those most at risk of gambling addiction are given safer gambling tools to use, to control their gambling habits. 

Receiving A License 

To get a license from the commission, wannabee online casino operators need to fulfil certain criteria. Some gambling products need one or all of the following, an operation license, a personal management license, and a personal function license. The commission charges an annual fee to license holders and on top of this casinos are taxed.