Arbusers

The new Gambling White Paper published by the UK Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) some days ago, plans to create a new Ombudsman ''that is fully operationally independent and is credible with customers''.

The paper recognises that customers are not well protected and the ''Commission cannot require operators to repay individual customers. This means customers seeking personal redress in these areas currently have no choice but to pursue potentially costly and uncertain court action.''

Here in arbusers we highlighted that many rogue bookmakers are deliberately confiscating customers funds, with no justification and some times with ridiculous reasoning. We also highlighted that every 4 digit balance comes with an additional risk as bookmakers believe bettors will not pursue with court action as the time, money and efforts required do not worth it.

The new Ombudsman, if implemented correctly, will help bettors take back their money from rogue bookmakers. However, the Paper leaves space for misconduct and misconceptions as it states: ''if the ombudsman does not attract sufficient cooperation or deliver the protections as we expect, we will legislate to put its position beyond doubt.'' In our view a ''Voluntary initially, with legislation if needed'' phase is not protecting bettors completely.

The DCMS expects the ombudsman to be accepting complaints within a year.