The Gambling Supervision Commission is an independent statutory board responsible for regulating all forms of land-based and online gambling in the Isle of Man. The commission has a solid reputation, and is known to take action against operators who aren’t sticking to the terms of their licenses.
One of the commission’s core motivations is ensuring that operators pay players in a speedy manner – and this makes casinos licensed by the Gaming Supervision Commission a safe bet for all players.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at who the Gaming Supervision Commission are, what they do, and what conditions they impose on licensees. We’ll also look at how to validate a license issued by them, as well as looking at their complaints procedure.
About The Gambling Supervision Commission
The Gambling Supervision Commission was formed in 1962, to oversee the regulation of gambling activities on the Isle of Man. As online gambling grew, so did the commission, and they soon started to regulate online gambling activities. Today, operators who base themselves from the Isle of Man, or who want to offer online gambling services to players based there must hold a license from the commission.
The commission has three core objectives. These are:
- To keep the gambling industry free from crime;
- To protect underage, and ‘risk-prone’ gamblers;
- To ensure that services offered by gambling operators are fair, and that players receive their owed winnings.
The Gambling Supervision Commission is well-known for their transparency, and they publish annual reports detailing their strategies, and any regulatory decisions they make.
The commission offer a number of services, including offering consultations, providing guidance to legislators, and even having well-planned disaster recovery procedures, in case of major issues.
License Requirements
Like most regulators, the Gambling Supervision Commission hold licensees to high standards, and there are a number of things that operators must take into account before being eligible to apply for a license.
Anti-money laundering is a core focus of the commission, and operators must ensure that they are carrying our the appropriate Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on players. Preventing underage gambling is another responsibility placed upon operators, and, again, they’re required to verify the age of all their players, to ensure they’re of legal age to gamble.
All games offered at online casinos have to be independently tested by a commission-approved testing house. This ensures that games are fair, and pay-out the correct amounts.
Another big responsibility license holders have, is to help those who may be struggling to manage their gambling. Operators must have robust responsible gambling tools in place, that allow players to set themselves limits – and, should the player feel the need to do so, they also need to be able to take a break, or self-exclude from an online gambling site with immediate effect.
Operators are also required to ensure player’s funds are held in a separate bank account. This protects player funds in the case of insolvency. Operators must also have disaster recovery procedures in place, to ensure that – in the case of a technological crisis or similar, hackers cannot steal sensitive player-information.
Top Gambling Supervision Commission Licensed Casinos
The Gambling Supervision Commission hasn’t issued as many licenses as, say, the UKGC or the MGA, but there are a fair number of online casinos licensed by them, and you can view some of the top-rated casinos licensed in the Isle of Man below:
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How To Check If a License is Valid
All sites that receive a license from the Isle of Man’s Gambling Supervision Commission must display the commission’s logo on their website, along with the details of their license. This is usually found in the website’s footer area, and will show the license number, along with the company name, and the registered address.
If you wish to verify whether a site displaying these details is licensed by the commission, you can do so by checking the regulator’s official register of licensees.
The Gambling Supervision Commission’s Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint with an operator, the first thing you need to do is contact the license holder directly. This is something that commission insist on – and they will not look at any complaints unless you have exhausted all avenues with the operator.
If, after lodging your complaint with the operator in question you are not happy with their response you can contact the commission directly.
When submitting a complaint, you should follow the below guidance from the commission:
‘Please ensure you provide your full name, contact details, account username, the name of the operator, full details of your complaint and include all relevant correspondence there has already been, between yourself and the operator, concerning the matter.’
Once the commission receive your complaint they will investigate accordingly, and will get in touch once they have reached a decision. You need to lodge your complaint in writing, and this can be done through email, on: [email protected]
Contact The Gambling Supervision Commission
Address: Head Office, Ground Floor, St George’s Court, Myrtle Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1ED
Phone: +44 1624 694331
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/statutory-boards/gambling-supervision-commission/