As it steps up its investigation of the £4.5 billion sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is acting because it believes people aren’t getting the deal they expect from sign-up promotions and operators are unfairly holding on to people’s money.

This follows a joint programme of work between the Gambling Commission and the CMA to tackle a shared concern about whether people are being treated fairly by online gambling operators.

Sign-up promotions are designed to attract players onto casino-like gaming websites by offering bonus cash when they put in their own money. However, the CMA is concerned that people often don’t get the deal they are expecting as the promotions come with an array of terms and conditions that are often confusing and unclear and, in some cases, may be unfair.

Customers might have to play hundreds of times before they are allowed to withdraw any money, so they don’t have the choice to quit while they’re ahead and walk away with their winnings when they want to.

Even when players haven’t signed up for a promotion, there are concerns that some operators are stopping customers taking money out of their accounts. The CMA has been told by customers that some firms have minimum withdrawal amounts far bigger than the original deposit, or place hurdles in the way of them withdrawing their money.

Nisha Arora, CMA Senior Director for Consumer Enforcement, said:

We know online gambling is always going to be risky, but firms must also play fair. People should get the deal they’re expecting if they sign up to a promotion, and be able to walk away with their money when they want to.

Sadly, we have heard this isn’t always the case. New customers are being enticed by tempting promotions only to find the dice are loaded against them. And players can find a whole host of hurdles in their way when they want to withdraw their money.

That’s why we are today launching enforcement action where we think the law has been broken. We are also asking people who have had difficulties withdrawing their money when they’ve gambled online to tell us about it, and help probe this issue even further.

Gambling Commission Chief Executive, Sarah Harrison, added:

Gambling operators must treat customers fairly – but some have been relying on terms that are unclear with too many strings attached.

Whilst the CMA takes enforcement action on how consumer legislation is followed, the gambling industry should be under no illusion that if they don’t comply with consumer law, we will see this as a breach of their operating licence, and take decisive action.

The CMA opened an investigation into the gambling sector’s compliance with consumer protection law towards the end of last year after hearing about a range of concerns that suggested some operators were not treating their customers fairly. As well as hearing from around 800 unhappy customers, it has also demanded companies answer questions about how they operate, and closely examined the play on a range of websites.

Having identified a number of operators engaging in practices likely to be breaking consumer law, the CMA is now taking enforcement action and has a range of powers at its disposal to bring any illegal activities to an end.

This investigation is part of a joint programme of work with the Gambling Commission to tackle issues around fairness and transparency in the gambling industry. As well as the enforcement cases, the investigation may lead to further action, from the CMA or the Gambling Commission, to improve practices across the online gambling sector.

All information relating to this investigation can be found on the case page. This also sets out how people can get in touch with information on the concerns identified above.

Notes for editors

1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For CMA updates, follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn.

2. The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in Great Britain in partnership with licensing authorities. It also regulates the National Lottery. Its regulations are aimed at ensuring gambling is crime-free, fair and open and children and other vulnerable people are protected. It advises central and local government on the impact of gambling and its regulation. It holds operators to account; it ensures operators meet licensing standards and takes action against those that don’t. It ensures that National Lottery returns to good causes are maximised.

3. The key pieces of consumer protection legislation relevant to the CMA’s investigation are the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The CPRs contain a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and specific prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act aims to protect consumers against unfair contract terms and notices, and requires contract terms to be fair and transparent.

4. The CMA has not reached a final view on whether the terms and practices it is concerned about breach consumer protection law, and will listen to operators’ responses to its concerns. If necessary the CMA will take action through the courts to enforce that law under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002. Ultimately, only a court can rule that a particular term or practice infringes the law.

5. The CMA can give Notice to any person under Part 3 of Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requiring that person to provide the information specified in the Notice to enable it to exercise, or consider whether to exercise, its consumer protection law enforcement functions under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002. If a person fails to comply with such a Notice, the CMA may make an application to the court. If it appears to the court that that person has failed to comply with the Notice, the court may make an order requiring the person to do anything the court thinks it is reasonable for the person to do to ensure that the Notice is complied with. Any company officer responsible for the failure may also be required to meet the costs of the CMA’s application.

6. The online gambling sector has grown by around 150% since 2009. It is now worth £4.5 billion, and more than 6.5 million people regularly log on to gambling websites.

7. Media enquiries to the CMA should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 020 3738 6798.

8. Media enquiries to the Gambling Commission should be directed to Benjamin Glass (bglass@gamblingcommission.gov.uk or 0121 230 6700).

9. The CMA wants to hear from people who have had difficulties withdrawing their money when they’ve gambled online by 31 August.

Catherine Arnold addresses attendees at the Queen’s Birthday Party 2017

Vice Ministers, Members of Parliament, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s my great pleasure to welcome you here, as we come together to mark the official birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

No monarch has reigned longer.

At her coronation in 1953 the Queen promised the peoples she served across the globe:

“Throughout all my life, and with all my heart, I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”

It’s one thing for a 26 year to utter those words. It is another to live by them for the next 65 years; today Her Majesty is Queen of 16 UN member states and head of the Commonwealth of 52 nations.

So I would like you to raise your glasses for the first toast of the afternoon, to Her Majesty: [The Queen]

Birthdays are a moment to celebrate. And there is much to celebrate in the last year of relations between Mongolia and the UK. Polo, countering the illegal wildlife trade, enhancing export standards, strengthening mental health care, championing women’s rights, the UK and Mongolia are working together here, in the UK, and globally on things that matter to us, that matter to Mongolia, and that matter to the world we all live in.

That wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated embassy team and without all of you, our friends, colleagues and partners. Each of you is here because of what the UK and Mongolia are doing together. And the number and diversity of you says more than words. Thank you.

But birthdays are also a moment to reflect. Reflect on what has changed. What has stayed the same. What has happened. The Queen’s Birthday is no exception.

As the oldest and longest reigning monarch in the world, Her Majesty’s Birthday allows us a particularly long period of reflexion. 91 years to be precise.

But does any of us truly understand what 91 years means? To bring it to life I’m going to quote a short extract from two things that were written in 1926, the year Her Majesty was born.

The first is from a car manual:

The engine is started by the lifting of the crank at the front of the car. Take hold of the handle and push firmly toward the car till you feel the crank engage, then lift upward with a quick swing. With a little experience this operation will become an easy matter.

Fortunately, none of you arrived today having had to use a starting-crank. The beautiful Range Rovers at the entrance demonstrate far better than my speech just how much technology has changed over Her Majesty’s life – and I would like to thank Jaguar Land Rover for their sponsorship of today’s celebration.

The second extract comes from the British children’s classic Winnie the Pooh, also written in 1926:

“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”

All of us will recognise immediately that moment that so confused Pooh. As the kaleidoscope of technology changes around us, human nature remains stubbornly constant.

That said, I know you won’t have Pooh’s feeling when you visit our sponsor Portmeirion in the Shangri-La mall – as I hope you all will. I thank Portmeirion today, and every time I have tea in my favourite cup. I am never disappointed.

Change and continuity. Which brings me to the last of my three birthday reflexions: what has happened.

A lot in the last year. Since I last stood here both of our countries have had parliamentary elections. And the UK has voted to leave the European Union – a perfect example of continuity and change.

The UK is exiting the EU. But we are not leaving Europe – that would be impossible, our culture, our values and our geography are inextricably entwined with our friends on the Continent.

The UK’s outward looking engagement with the world will also remain unchanged.

Our sponsor Holiday Inn, part of UK InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, is a perfect example of that. IHG’s origins lie in the founding of the Bass Brewery in 1777. Last year I was delighted to open Holiday Inn in Mongolia 9000km and 239 years later – a place that will further invigorate Mongolian business and tourism.

The UK’s global engagement is clear. We remain the only G7 country to have met our UN commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas development. We have the largest defence spend in Europe. And our universities will continue to foster some of the world’s greatest minds; the only countries to have more Nobel Prize winners than my university, Cambridge, alone has nurtured, are the US, UK and Germany, in that order. Of all the world’s heads of state and government, one in every seven was educated in Britain.

But as the Queen celebrates another birthday, we should pause for one final reflexion. Her Majesty is the only living head of state to have served in World War II. Shortly after her 18th birthday the then Princess Elizabeth trained as a war-time mechanic and truck driver.

3 weeks ago, over 70 years later, Her Majesty toured the wards of Manchester’s Children’s Hospital. She was there to talk with children who had been blown up leaving a concert.

Terrorism stalks the world. And today we remember those affected in recent weeks.

But I also want us to reflect on our personal response.

After the horrific attack, many thousands of people gathered in the central square in Manchester to commemorate the 22 who died and the dozens of injured. After the silence, the crowd struck up a song by Manchester band Oasis: don’t look back in anger.

We stand here today, the UK and Mongolia, as proud democratic nations. Let me conclude with something else the Queen said on her coronation day.

“Parliamentary institutions, with their free speech and respect for the rights of minorities, and the inspiration of a broad tolerance in thought and expression — all this we conceive to be a precious part of our way of life and outlook.

I ask you now to cherish them — and practice them too; then we can go forward together in peace, seeking justice and freedom for all men.”

Politics, events, what happens are shaped by people. We each have a personal part to play. We can choose to engage, to counter the narratives of hate, whatever mask they wear, whether of religion, ideology or nationalism.

Or we can choose to stand by and watch.

Each of us is here today because we have influence and, in different ways, power over narratives or people. As we make our choice each day, let us think of that 26 year old Queen:

“Throughout all my life, and with all my heart, I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”

May we strive to be worthy of the trust of those over whom we have influence.

Thank you.