‘Immoral’ VIP betting schemes to face the axe
MINISTERS are set to ban bookies’ ‘VIP’ schemes for gamblers which MPs have described as ‘immoral’.
Gambling giants use a tactic of assigning an individual to privately manage ‘VIP’ clients – offering a oneto-one service.
It has been accused of fuelling problem gambling.
The discussions are part of the Government’s Gambling Review, which is due to conclude later this year and form the basis of a White Paper.
A senior Government source told The Mail on Sunday that plans for an outright ban of the practice have won Ministerial support. Previous attempts by the Gambling Commission to regulate the VIP practice have been accused of not going far enough.
Since October, bookies are required to check that customers can afford what they are betting before they make a customer a VIP.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who has campaigned on the issue, last night said it was ‘high time’ VIP managers were banned.
He welcomed the news and said the ‘immoral’ practice is an ‘atrocious abuse, forcing people into debt; desperation by giving them incentive.
‘They are deliberately driving gamblers to worse debt.’ Sir Iain described claims from the gambling industry that the VIP practice has become better regulated as ‘rubbish’.
The Gambling Commission’s decision not to ban VIP schemes last year when bringing in new rules led campaigners to attack its ‘weak and vague regulation’.
Labour MP Carolyn Harris at the time said that the failure to ban was ‘indicative of the close relationship between the industry and the Gambling Commission’.
Britain’s biggest bookmakers, including Paddy Power, Betway and Ladbrokes, have previously been handed multi-million-pound fines for targeting addicts using the ‘grooming’ tactics.
Entry to VIP programmes for anyone under 25 now requires senior sign-off and additional monitoring on their account. However, the Government is now planning to use its Gambling Review to go further.
A spokesman for the Betting and Gaming Council said: ‘The BGC, working with the Gambling Commission, has already taken tough action on VIP accounts, including the introduction of a strict new code of conduct which has seen the number of players enrolled reduced by 70 per cent.’
A Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport spokesman said: ‘The consultation on the Gambling Act Review closed in March, and we are carefully considering responses that provided evidence and views including those on advertising practices.’