Breakdown of Gambling Commission Disputes

Summary

A requester asked the Gambling Supervision Commission for statistical summaries of disputes regarding fairness, protecting the young, and excluding crime for the last twelve months. The Commission responded by confirming receipt and stating that all requested information was sent.

Key Facts

• The request was made to the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) in the Isle of Man.
• The request covered dispute statistics for fairness in gaming, protecting the young and vulnerable, and excluding crime.
• The GSC received the request on 16 October 2018.
• The GSC responded on 25 October 2018.
• The outcome of the request was that all information was sent to the requester.

Data Disclosed

• 2018-10-16
• 2018-10-25
• 624569
• 4 pages
• 1 document
• 20 working days

Original Request

Dear Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), I am writing to make a freedom of information request for all the information to which I am entitled under the relevant freedom of information legislation that applies in the Isle of Man. Please send me for the last available complete twelve month period: -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to fairness in gaming, including but not limited to: a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to protecting the young and vulnerable, including but not limited to: a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to excluding crime, including but not limited to: a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process I would like the above information to be provided to me as electronic copies, delivered via email to [redacted] If this is not possible, please contact me to discuss alternative transmission methods. If this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand that under the relevant legislation, you are required to advise and assist requesters. If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary. If the release of any of this information is prohibited on the grounds of breach of confidence, I ask that you supply me with copies of the confidentiality agreements that apply. I understand that you are required to respond to my request within the 20 working days after you receive this request. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Ground Floor, St. Georges Court, Myrtle Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1ED

Telephone: (01624) 694331 Fax: (01624) 694344 E-mail: gaming@gov.im www.gov.im/gambling

Our ref: 624569 25 October 2018

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 16 October 2018 and which states:

"Dear Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), I am writing to make a freedom of information request for all the information to which I am entitled under the relevant freedom of information legislation that applies in the Isle of Man. Please send me for the last available complete twelve month period: -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to fairness in gaming, including but not limited to: a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to protecting the young and vulnerable, including but not limited to: a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process -Any and all statistical summaries held by the GSC of the number of disputes handled by the GSC relating to excluding crime, including but not limited to:

a) The number of disputes initiated by customers b) The number of disputes initiated by licensees c) How each dispute was resolved d) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the customer e) The number of disputes resolved in favour of the licensees f) The number of disputes where the customer affirmatively indicated their satisfaction with the process I would like the above information to be provided to me as electronic copies, delivered via email to [redacted] If this is not possible, please contact me to discuss alternative transmission methods. If this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand that under the relevant legislation, you are required to advise and assist requesters. If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary. If the release of any of this information is prohibited on the grounds of breach of confidence, I ask that you supply me with copies of the confidentiality agreements that apply. I understand that you are required to respond to my request within the 20 working days after you receive this request. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request."

I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. Complaints statistics for 2017/2018 (April 2017 to March 2018) Where a dispute occurred, findings in favour of: Core principle Number of complaints received Number of complaints resolved complainant operator Excluding Crime 125 125 13 72 Protecting young & vulnerable 24 24 1 6 Fairness in gaming 134 134 16 19 Undefined (No Response after initial contact) 26 0 n/a n/a The sub-categories that the GSC uses to classify complaints can be found in the following schedule.

It is important to note that not all complaints received by the GSC are disputes. In many cases, players contact the GSC because they are confused or doubtful about the actions of an operator. For example, a number of the “excluding crime” category of complaints are players who are unsure whether the operator’s request for photo ID and address data is legitimate or not. This is the reason that the sum of complaints resolved in favour of players and in favour of operators does not tally with the total number of complaints for a given category. The number of complaints that we have received from operators is zero. This is because operators attempt to resolve complaints from players in the first instance and all disputes handled by the GSC result from instances where this initial contact with the operator has not resulted in satisfaction. The way the GSC handles disputes is common to all categories of dispute. Evidence is gathered from all parties in the dispute and weighed against any claims made. The party not favoured by the evidence obtained is given the GSC’s preliminary conclusion and invited to supply further evidence. This process continues until no more evidence is supplied by either party. The GSC then makes a ruling and closes the complaint. Complainants may appeal a finding at which point the complaint is escalated to a senior manager to check that the complaint has been handled in accordance with procedure. The GSC does not track the degree to which a customer is satisfied with the outcome but a complainant can re-open a complaint at any time provided additional evidence can be supplied. Finally it may be of interest to you to note that we have augmented the complaints statistics in our annual report to include the additional data that you asked for in your request and this data will be available to the public in our annual reports from now on. Please quote the reference number 624569 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely