UKGC Withholds Key Complaint & Refund Data
Regulator cites excessive cost in refusal to release three years of consumer protection statistics requested under Freedom of Information.
The UK Gambling Commission has declined to release three years of data on consumer complaints and problem gambling refunds. The regulator cited the cost of retrieval as the reason for withholding the information, leaving consumers without key insights into operator social responsibility failings.
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UKGC Declines to Release Consumer Complaint and Refund Statistics
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has withheld key data regarding consumer complaints and problem gambling-related refunds, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) response dated 4 February 2024. The regulator refused the request, which sought three years of aggregate data, by citing that the cost of retrieving the information would exceed the statutory limit.
This decision means that crucial information on the volume and nature of social responsibility failings reported by consumers, as well as the frequency of voluntary refunds by operators, remains unavailable to the public.
What Information Was Requested?
The request, submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, was a refined version of a previous, broader query. The applicant specifically asked for:
- Complaint Summary: The total number of complaints received by the UKGC over the last three years, with a general categorisation (e.g., self-exclusion failures, misleading advertising).
- Problem Gambling Refunds: Aggregate data on the number of requests for problem gambling refunds and the number of such refunds issued by gambling businesses voluntarily, without direction from a court or the Commission.
- Regulatory Collaboration: Insight into the UKGC's work with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) concerning operators providing customers with their complete betting history and affordability data.
The Commission's Justification for Refusal
The UKGC confirmed that it holds information on the total number of complaints and that these figures could be broken down by a general category. However, it stated that data on problem gambling refunds is recorded in a 'free text' field, which would require a manual review of every individual record.
Citing Section 12 of the FOIA, the Commission stated that the cost of this manual review would exceed the £450 limit, which equates to 18 hours of staff time. Consequently, the regulator refused the entire request.
The UKGC explained that official guidance advises against providing partial information when a Section 12 exemption is applied, which is why the more easily retrievable total complaint numbers were also withheld.
Regarding the query about collaboration with the ICO, the Commission stated it did not consider this a request for specific recorded information but rather for "views or opinions," and therefore could not provide information under the FOIA. It instead directed the applicant to publicly available reports on its website concerning the 'single customer view' project.
Significance for Consumers
The refusal to release this data leaves a significant gap in public knowledge about gambling-related harm and operator conduct. Without access to aggregate complaint data, consumers, researchers, and campaigners cannot independently assess the scale of social responsibility breaches across the industry or identify recurring issues with specific practices.
Furthermore, the lack of data on voluntary refunds by operators makes it impossible to gauge how often businesses are proactively returning funds to customers who have suffered harm, a key indicator of a company's commitment to player protection outside of regulatory enforcement. The Commission's response suggests that its own data systems are not structured to easily track this important consumer outcome.