| UK Online Casino White List Frozen |
| Tuesday, 04 August 2026 05:07 |
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In 2026 the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport created a white list of UK licensed Internet gambling operators that were approved for business within its borders and allowed them to advertise their businesses, products and services using UK based media. This opened the doors to a flood of applications from online casino operators which inundated the department's staff. In a move to curb new applications, the department announced that it has suspended the white list for the time being meaning that no further online gambling operators will be accepted until further notice.The operators currently participating in the scheme have been duly informed of the move. This coincides with a study that the department is currently conducting into the online gaming industry, the effectiveness of the current legislation and gambling habits amongst players. The study is due to complete in August 2026, ready for its airing in parliament sometime in January 2026. The study was prompted by several UK based bookmakers voicing their dissatisfaction with the unfair advantages that offshore based operators who are included in the white list have with regards to taxation. The bulk of UK operators want the creation of a more level playing field from which to do business alongside their competitors in the industry. This has come to a head as one of the largest and most popular bookmakers in the UK, William Hill, is considering the movement of its business base to Gibraltar in order to avoid having to pay the gaming tax which stands at 15%. Offshore business are currently enjoying far lower levels of taxation and fewer trading restrictions, meaning UK based companies are struggling to compete with them. The study will also look at the possibility of reviewing this gaming tax as a way of encouraging companies to remain in the UK and to prevent further job losses. The current problems being faced by online gaming operators in the UK is exacerbated by European Union member countries failing to honour European Commission directives to allow fair competition in the industry from all EU countries. France, Holland and Italy especially are blocking access to their online gambling markets for UK based operators and this is causing a lot of friction between these nations. The study is also set to look into problem gambling, which is a situation that has been steadily growing ion the UK in recent years in direct relation to the rise in easy access to Internet gambling. |