UK says young people particularly vulnerable to gambling addiction (representative)
London:
The UK government announced on Friday that it will introduce stake limits on online slot games, tightening regulations designed to help protect people from the dangers of gambling.
From September, adults will be limited to £5 ($6) per spin, while teenagers aged 18 to 24 will be limited to £2.
As of now, there are no limits on bets, unlike physical gaming machines in casinos and betting shops.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport called the move a “landmark moment” for the regulation of online gambling.
The laws will “address the increased risk of significant harm and life-changing losses caused by online pokies,” the company said in a statement.
However, Charles Ritchie, who co-founded the charity Gambling With Lives after his son took his own life after battling a gambling addiction, said the games “remain It’s highly addictive.”
“They are high-speed products and actually, unless something is done about the speed of play, they can still be addictive,” he told BBC Radio.
The government says young people are particularly vulnerable to gambling addiction.
In 2019, it cut the maximum bet on electronic gaming machines in betting shops, known as fixed-odds betting terminals, from £100 to £2.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
