Lotteries
Preventing underage gambling
If the person selling lottery tickets believes that you may be under 16, they must ask you to prove your identity before selling you a ticket.
Providing information to customers
Operators must make sure that you can easily obtain information on how to gamble responsibly.
They must also provide information about the help that you can get if you have a gambling problem.
Helping problem gamblers
Operators must make sure that you can easily obtain information on how to gamble responsibly. They must also provide information about the help that you can get if you have a gambling problem.
Self-exclusion
Operators must have procedures in place allowing you to self-exclude for a length of time – usually between six months and five years. While you are excluded, the operator must take all reasonable steps to prevent you from gambling with them. At the end of the period chosen, the self-exclusion should continue unless you take positive action to end it. In the meantime, if you are found trying to gamble with the operator, you will be removed.
Credit
Lotteries must not:
- provide credit in connection with gambling, nor
- participate in, arrange, permit or knowingly facilitate the giving of credit in connection with gambling.
Making sure gambling is ‘fair and open’
If asked to by the Gambling Commission, operators must be able to show how they have satisfied themselves that their terms are not unfair
Marketing and advertising
Gambling advertising is monitored by the Advertising Standards Authority and must be socially responsible. This means that adverts must not be targeted or be attractive to children. Adverts cannot present gambling as a solution to financial problems or misrepresent the rules of the game.
Operators may offer you incentives or rewards for gambling with them, but these must be proportionate to the type of gambling involved and the terms and conditions must be made clear.
Complaints and disputes
All operators must have a procedure to deal with customer complaints and disputes. If you make a complaint, you should be advised of the details of the person you should contact and provided with a copy of the complaints procedure.
If you are unhappy with how your complaint has been handled or the outcome, the operator must provide you with details of an independent third party to review your dispute.
National Lottery
The National Lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission.
The National Lottery Commission’s statutory duties are to:
- ensure that the National Lottery, and every lottery that forms a part of it, is run with all due propriety;
- ensure that the interests of every participant in the Lottery are protected; and
- subject to these two duties, to do our best in making sure that the proceeds of the National Lottery are as great as possible.
Preventing underage gambling
Sale of any National Lottery ticket to any person under the age of 16, or by any person under the age of 16 is against the law.
The National Lottery Commission ensures that there are controls to protect against under-age play. It has also worked with the operator to develop a programme called ‘Operation Child’, which uses a test purchaser who is over 16 but looks younger.
In order to monitor underage play of National Lottery games, the National Lottery Commission is committed to undertaking tracking surveys of 12 to 15 year olds about their claimed, actual and attempted National Lottery play. This information is used alongside sales and other information to assess trends in illegal underage gambling on the National Lottery.
Providing information to customers
The National Lottery Commission requires the operator to make clear information available to players, including information on the games available, how to play then and how to claim prizes. In addition, the Commission agrees performance standards with the operator relating to the service it provides to players.
The National Lottery Commission also approves the rules and procedures for each game and handles complaints if a player is unhappy with the customer service they have received from the operator.
Helping problem gamblers
The National Lottery Commission ensures that there are controls to protect against excessive play. For example, it has overseen the development of a system that measures whether new games have the potential to attract excessive or underage play – the Game Design Protocol (GDP).
The National Lotery Commission has also worked with the operator to set weekly expenditure limits on the play of Interactive Instant Win Games (IIWGs), which are games that are only available to play online.
Self-exclusion
The National Lottery Commission requires that a self-exclusion facility is available to players who play the National Lottery online.
Marketing and advertising
The National Lottery Commission requires the operator to adopt and maintain a code of practice covering advertising, sales promotion and public relations in respect of the National Lottery, every constituent lottery and lottery ancillary activities.
This code of practice is subject to approval by the National Lottery Commission. The code covers, amongst other things:
*methods of avoiding aiming advertisements at those under 16 or other unsuitable target markets and audiences; *methods of avoiding any association between the National Lottery or any constituent lottery and tobacco, pharmaceuticals available on prescription and any unlawful form of gaming, betting, lottery or competition; and *the presentation of information which describes or appears to describe the chances of winning, the nature of prizes or the cost of playing.
In addition, National Lottery advertising, like all other advertising, is subject to monitoring by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Complaints and disputes
The National Lottery Commission agrees performance standards with the operator relating to the service it provides to players.
If players are dissatisfied with any aspect of the National Lottery, they should complain directly to the National Lottery operator, Camelot:
National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL
National Lottery Line 0845 910 00 00
complaints@national-lottery.co.uk
If players do not receive a satisfactory response then they should escalate the complaint within Camelot, firstly to a manager and then to a senior manager, if necessary. If a player remains dissatisfied by Camelot’s response, they should contact The National Lottery Commission’s Consumer Protection team, who will review the case:
Consumer Protection
National Lottery Commission
101 Wigmore Street
London W1U 1QU
Tel: 0845 7125596 (calls charged at local rates, calls from mobiles may vary)
ConsumerProtection@natlotcomm.gov.uk