DCMS Approves Gambling Licence Fee Hikes from October 1

The UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published its response to an industry consultation into the funding of the British Gambling Commission, approving measures to increase licensing fees for operators and suppliers in Great Britain.

The consultation proposed an uplift in licensing fees, including an increase of 55% to annual remote operating license fees from October 1.

All new licence applications will face an increased cost of 60% under the proposal, while further steps to simplify the fees system such as a removal of the annual fee discount for combined land-based and online licences, were also proposed.

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Non-remote operating licences are due to increase by 15%, however, the implementation of this increase will be delayed until 1 April 2022 due to losses suffered by the land-based industry as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The consultation response states that the government intends to proceed with implementing all of the proposals as outlined in the original consultation document, with two minor amendments to fee regulations to be made.

The response describes these amendments as a provision to be made for no variation fee to be charged in certain circumstances in order to ensure fees regulations are consistent with UK GDPR, and an increase in the Single Machine Permit fee from £25 to £40.

The Gambling Commission published its response to the findings, stating that “we welcome this DCMS consultation response as it ensures much needed changes to our fee income that will enable us to continue to regulate effectively.”