The regulation of online bingo is something that lots of people are concerned about. After all, when you go on a bingo site or online casino, you’re essentially handing your money over. You want to know that your money’s going to be safe and that the site you’re handing your money over to is trustworthy.
Government Regulated
The good thing is that online bingo is indeed regulated and it is done so by the government. This is because online bingo is classed as a form of gambling. The government created the Gaming Act 1968 to regulate bingo, though an updated version, the Gambling Act 2005, was introduced in 2005.
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Act 2005 set up the Gambling Commission, whose sole purpose is to regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain. This commission strives to ensure that commercial gambling is fair, open and free from crime, and that vulnerable people and children are protected from gambling. As well as bingo sites, the Gambling Commission regulate arcades, gaming machines, lotteries, including The National Lottery, casinos, and more. In 2014 the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 was introduced. This act stipulates that the Gambling Commission must regulate all bingo sites that advertise to or do trade with UK-based customers. Before trying any bingo site, you should ensure The Gambling Commission has licensed its operators. If a bingo site does not have licensing from the Gambling Commission, you should try a different site instead.
Always Read The T&C’s
Even though the government regulates online bingo, there’s no industry-wide association to help players who encounter problems with bingo sites. As such, it’s best if you read all of a site’s terms and conditions and you know exactly how payouts, bonuses etc. work. A lot of players get into disputes with sites because they’ve misunderstood something which they wouldn’t have misunderstood if they’d read the terms and conditions.