The important area of Alternative Dispute Resolution will fall under the remit of the UK Gambling Commission, which has been appointed as the competent authority for entities who handle disputes relating to gambling under Europe’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive, due for introduction by July 2015.
The directive requires entities that deal with, or aspire to deal with, gambling disputes, to:
* Convince the Commission that they meet the European directive requirements regarding independent status;
* Secure the Commission’s approval for handling such disputes;
* Satisfy all information requirements through a separate website and reportage to the Commission;
Operators licensed by the Commission will be required to use dispute resolution entities authorised by the Commission.
The system is currently in preparation, and the Gambling Commission has undertaken to provide more details on the scheme as these become available.
At present government will need to pass further legislation before more progress on setting up the system can be made by the Commission, but in the meantime the Commission intends to proceed with informal discussions with interested parties on the possibilities.