September 29, 2017

From 1 October 2017, a number of provisions set out in the Gambling Commission’s Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS) will enter into effect.

The updated RTS was published in June 2017 following a consultation which proposed the introduction of a number of new measures aimed at ensuring consumers are armed with sufficient information to make informed choices about their gambling activity.

The technical standards set to come into force on 1 October 2017 are listed below:

• Live dealer studios (RTS 17): A set of standards for providers of live dealer studios that have not been audited by other jurisdictions has been introduced.
• Peer-to-peer poker (RTS 11A/IPA 7): Various new requirements have been introduced related to peer-to-peer poker. These include an obligation on licensees: (i) to keep accurate records on all accounts that are closed following an investigation; (ii) to set out a brief description of their policy for dealing with funds that are recovered from players in integrity cases; (iii) to use gameplay analysis to detect unusual behaviour; (iv) to monitor the effectiveness of policies and procedures designed to detect and prevent collusion and other integrity issues; and (v) to report any accounts that are closed for suspicious or irregular play.
• Use of third party software (RTS 16): Players must be informed whether the use of third party software is permitted or prohibited and if so which types.
• Progressive jackpot system (RTS 9): Numerous changes in respect of linked progressive jackpots have been introduced, including an obligation to inform players of how the jackpot winners are determined, the likelihood of winning a jackpot and making it clear when a player is not eligible to win a jackpot.
• Virtual sports odds (RTS 2B and RTS 3C): The updated RTS formalises the requirement that the odds displayed in virtual event betting should reflect the probability of each event as closely as possible, and further that the odds format (fractional v decimal) that takes precedence in settling bets must be set out in the rules.
• Information security standards (A.14): Three additional ISO standards will be added to the existing RTS security requirements, and any security audits submitted after the implementation date will need to include the new requirements.

There is one additional implementation date set for 1 April 2018 which introduces a number of additional requirements concerning information displayed to players (in RTS 1 and RTS 2), including a more prescriptive approach to the availability and transparency of a customer’s account and session history.

The updated RTS can be viewed here.