Implementation of Standard Markers of Harm in Gambling: What Does This Mean?
Different institutions consider compulsory gambling an important issue in different markets, and they try to introduce different solutions to decrease the percentage of such cases and ensure responsible gambling. One such recent suggestion is the proposal of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) to introduce a list of clear markets of harm in gambling.
Thus, EGBA has sent the proposal to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to create standard markers to detect harmful gambling behaviors. This institution believes that having such a list will help to detect the early signs of risky or problematic gambling in online players, and it should reduce the number of such players in Europe.
That proposal was under review by CEN, which conducted a ballot of its members, the national standardization bodies (NSBs) of European countries. NSBs have approved this initiative, so the group of academics, health experts, consumer organizations, authorities, and other relative stakeholders will start to discuss the list of those standard markers.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE MARKERS?
Standard markers are still discussed, but such data as the time spent at the casino, the speed and duration of play can be helpful in identification of the risky gambling behavior. Some authorities and online operators already use such markets to detect compulsory gambling, but there is no standard list that is used in all EU jurisdictions.
Standard markets can also help relevant authorities to create an effective mechanism for stopping such harmful behavior.
“We’re delighted that CEN has approved EGBA’s proposal to establish a standardized list of markers of harm, and we thank its members for their support. This decision is a milestone and a significant step forward for safer gambling in Europe…”, commented Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA.
The discussions of experts to create a standard list of markers of harm should begin in the Q1 of 2023.
Those are not only such institutions as EGBA that work on safer gambling in Europe, some software developers and online casinos also take steps in this direction. One of them is NOVOMATIC which has recently received the Global Gambling Guidance Group (G4) in Italy and Spain for the implementation of protection of minors and players protection policies.
While European countries are on the stage of safer gambling for their players, some other countries just have plans of the launch of gambling markets. One of them is India, which has not launched a regulated market yet, but it is close to that.
