RIGT Demands More Donations: 2

The Responsibility in Gambling Trust has given the online casinos in the United Kingdom the ultimatum of the year. They either have to voluntarily pay up a bigger amount of cash towards the responsible gambling group or they will be told what they have to give on a yearly basis. The government has not seen the online casino industry respond as well as they projected for the 2008-2009 internet gambling season, so this may be the only way to guarantee that their program gets the funding that it needs. The gambling industry is not taking this lying down. There are certain individuals releasing statements to the media regarding the current financial climate and how the donation requirement may affect their businesses unfavorably.

The ball is now on the court of the online casino executives. The chairman of the Responsibility in Gambling Trust has said that this is a way for the online casinos to think about how they will be affected in a statutory level now that regulation has gone up with online casinos. Due to online casinos previously not wanting to take part in helping the problem gamblers, the local newspaper The Guardian, reported that the online casino operators will have to pay a levy due to the proposed requirements. The newspaper noted that the new documents that are going through the UK government may impose a levy on online casinos and their operators that vary in size which will correlate to the size of the company or website.

The Responsibility in Gambling Trust was established in 2001 due to the troubles caused by online casinos and land based casino gambling. The charity was set up because of the independent Gambling Review Body’s recommendation in the Budd report. The report sent a message to the online casino and gambling industry to contribute to help the research and rehabilitation of problem gambling of the citizens of the United Kingdom. The government will continue with business as usual. The online casino industry has spoken out against the new proposal. The chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, Russ Phillips, said: "We are being singled out for some sort of special treatment. We must not assume that gambling outlets have special privileges protecting them from the credit crunch. The whole industry has been hit and we have to be realistic about how much can be raised." We will keep you updated on the progress of this story as it unfolds.