SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Online gambling independent watchdog eCOGRA has launched a free service to help settle disputes between UK consumers and licensed UKGC online gambling providers.
eCOGRA has gained authorisation from the UKGC to become an Alternative Dispute Resolution provider for the UK online gambling market. The service will aim to become an additional consumer protection feature for the UK market.
eCOGRA guidelines have been used previously to settle player disputes with operators. The Watchdog has published numerous documentation on player treatment standards throughout its twelve year history.
eCOGRA Chief Executive Andrew Beveridge revealed this week that 355 UKGC licensed sites have already elected to use his company’s ADR service, including leading operators such as 32Red, 888, bet-at-home, BetClic Everest, Betway, bwin.party, Casino Rewards, Paf & Unibet.
“eCOGRA has developed a sophisticated software system to help manage & expedite the resolution of disputes with UKGC-licensed operators, & this, harnessed with the eCOGRA ADR team’s considerable experience in online gambling mediation, will help resolve most disputes within 72 hours,” Beveridge said.
ADR Operational Manager Tex Rees added: “eCOGRA has many clients using us for games testing in our capacity as an approved test house, & for performing annual security audits as required by the UKGC.
“We’ve included ADR in our service offering as we know how important it is to players to have an impartial mediator handling their issues with operators. From an operator perspective it is equally important that our clients can come to us for a full suite of services involving independent third parties as required by UKGC regulations.”
