Gambling self-exclusion: The French Gambling Authority (ANJ) offers an online service to simplify the registration process and reduce delays

Since 31 December 2020, the management of the self-exclusion file, previously held by the Ministry of the Interior, has been entrusted to the French Gambling Authority (ANJ). The ANJ is now offering a renew, easily accessible service that simplifies the process of registering for the file and reduces the time required to validate the process. Players no longer have to go to a police station and their registration can now be done entirely online.

Gambling self-exclusion

Gambling self-exclusion is a strictly personal and confidential procedure, offered to gamblers who wish to protect themselves against the risks associated with their excessive gambling (financial difficulties, psychological disorders related to addiction, isolation, etc.). Tutors or curators who are the legal representatives of a person encountering problems with gambling can also ask for registration in the file. Today, more than 38,500 people are registered in the file, which was previously managed by the Ministry of the Interior.

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As a result of this registration, access to the file is denied:

– To casinos or gaming clubs;

– Sports-betting, horse racing betting and online poker venues and websites licensed by the ANJ;

– To the games of La Française des Jeux or from PMU realised online or in physical points of sale with a player account;

This ban is valid for a minimum of three years. After this period, the person concerned may request the lifting of the ban at any time.

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Until now, persons wishing to register on this file had to go to a police station for an interview with a local correspondent of the Central Race and Gambling Service (SCCJ) in order to finalise their registration. The average delay was about a month and a half, and the call by the police could be dissuasive.

In order to ease the procedure and make it more attractive to gamblers, the order of 2 October, 2019 reforming the regulation of gambling entrusted the ANJ with the management of this file as part of its mission to combat addiction and prevent excessive gambling. As soon as it was set up in June 2020, the Authority has prepared for this transfer by designing a teleservice easily accessible to gamblers.

The new online service

The ANJ proposes a new registration process in 3 steps:

1. The player makes his request for a ban on the online service www.interdictiondejeux.anj.fr or by sending a letter;

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2. The ANJ quickly contacts the player by telephone to verify his or her identity;

3. Once the identity has been verified, the ANJ confirms the registration by sending a letter.

This new course is thus essentially dematerialized, even if registration in the file formulated by a letter remains possible.

With this new device, the ANJ wishes to reduce the effective registration time to a maximum of two weeks and make the process simpler and less guilt-ridden for the player.

After three years, if the gambler feels he or she no longer needs this measure, he or she can ask for a lift of the ban on the online service. Once the request has been verified by the ANJ, the player will receive confirmation that the ban has been lifted.

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Mario Blaise, Psychiatrist, addictologist and member of the ANJ, said: “This new service should make it easier for players to have recourse to gambling self-exclusion. Problematic gamblers think about it, they hear about it, but if the process is too complicated, they give up. We can hope that the dematerialisation and management by the ANJ will enable those who wish to do so to use it earlier and more quickly. And we know that reducing access to the gambling offer is an important step for players in difficulty.”