The Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007

Made: 6th August 2007

Laid before Parliament: 7th August 2007

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 240 and 355(1) of the Gambling Act 2005[^f00001].

Citation and commencement

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007.

• (2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) these Regulations come into force on 1st September 2007.

• (3) Paragraphs (1)(a) and (5)(b) of regulation 3 come into force on 1st November 2007.

• (4) Regulations 10 and 11 come into force on 1st March 2008.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the Act” means the Gambling Act 2005;

• “autoplay facility” has the meaning given by regulation 10(6);

• “category”, in relation to a gaming machine[^f00002], means the category of machine as defined in regulations made under section 236 of the Act, and “Category A”, or B, C or D means that Category (or in the case of Category B, sub-category) as defined in such regulations;

• “charge for use” means the amount a person pays for using a gaming machine once[^f00003];

• “committed amount” has the meaning given by regulation 9(4);

• “the deposited sum” has the meaning given by regulation 9(9); and

• “prize value” means the amount or value of any prize[^f00004] which can be won as a result of use of a gaming machine once.

• (2) For the purposes of these Regulations a person is to be treated as using a gaming machine once, even where he uses the machine to gamble more than once, if the payment for each gamble is made before he is able to know the result of any of them.

• (3) Paragraph (2) does not apply in relation to a gaming machine in respect of which—

• (a) the charge for use may only be paid by means of a single coin or token;

• (b) the coin or token must be inserted into the machine to pay the charge for use; and

• (c) whether or not a person using the machine wins a prize is determined (wholly or in part) by—

• (i) the position in which the coin or token comes to rest after it has been inserted into the machine, together with the position of other coins or tokens which have previously been inserted into the machine to pay a charge for use, or

• (ii) if the insertion of a single coin to pay the charge for use enables the person using the machine to release one or more tokens within the machine, the position in which such tokens come to rest after being released, together with the position of other tokens which have previously been so released.

• (4) In paragraph (3) “token” means an object of money’s worth.

• (5) Subject to paragraph (6), in these Regulations “money prize” means a prize—

• (a) in the form of cash or a cheque (or partly in the form of cash and partly in the form of a cheque); or

• (b) in the form of a document or object which—

• (i) enables the person entitled to it to redeem its value, on the premises where the machine is made available for use, in the form of cash or a cheque (or partly in the form of cash and partly in the form of a cheque), and

• (ii) may, but need not, also enable that person to use it to pay for goods or services otherwise available on the premises where the machine is made available for use, including facilities for gambling;

and “non-money prize” is any prize which is not a money prize.

• (6) A document or object is not a money prize if it is something which ordinarily is capable of being used for a purpose other than one referred to in paragraph (5)(b).

Display of information

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• (1) A gaming machine shall display the following information—

• (a) the category, or sub-category, of the machine;

• (b) the name and telephone number of a person from whom assistance may be obtained by people who are or may be affected by problems related to gambling; and

• (c) unless it is a Category D gaming machine, information constituting a warning that the machine is not to be used by a child or young person[^f00005].

• (2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), a gaming machine shall display information—

• (a) about the proportion of amounts paid to use the machine that is returned by way of prizes; or

• (b) about the odds of winning prizes from use of the machine.

• (3) A gaming machine is to be treated as having complied with the requirement in paragraph (2) if—

• (a) a notice is displayed on the machine at all times when it is made available for use indicating where the information referred to in paragraph (2) can be found, and

• (b) that information is held by or in relation to the machine in a way that makes it readily accessible by a person using the machine.

• (4) Paragraph (2) does not apply to a Category D gaming machine in relation to which there is no mechanism for recording—

• (a) the aggregate of amounts paid to use the machine, and

• (b) the aggregate of amounts won as prizes,

in which case the machine shall display information stating that the machine provides facilities for gambling.

• (5) Subject to paragraph (3), the information required by paragraphs (1), (2) and (4)—

• (a) shall be displayed on the machine at all times when the machine is made available for use;

• (b) in the case of paragraph (1)(a), shall be displayed on the machine in a manner which makes it readily visible to a person inspecting the machine while it is being made available for use; and

• (c) in all other cases shall be displayed on the machine in a manner which makes it readily visible to a person using the machine.

• (6) Information displayed in accordance with this regulation may take the form of any combination of letters, numbers or symbols.

Methods of payment

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• (1) A gaming machine shall not be made available for use if it is designed or adapted to permit money to be paid by means of a credit card or debit card.

• (2) A person making a gaming machine available for use shall not participate in, arrange, permit or knowingly facilitate payment of a charge for use by means of a credit card.

• (3) In this regulation—

• “credit card” means a credit-token within the meaning of section 14 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974[^f00006]; and

• “debit card” means a card enabling payment to be debited against a person’s banking account, and which is not a credit card.

Minimum payment amount

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A gaming machine shall not be made available for use if a person can use the machine to gamble once by paying an amount which is not a whole number of pence.

Nature of prizes

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• (1) A Category A, B or C gaming machine shall not provide an opportunity to win a non-money prize from use of the machine.

• (2) A Category D gaming machine shall not provide an opportunity to win a proscribed non-money prize from use of the machine.

• (3) In this regulation “proscribed non-money prize” means a good or service which it is illegal to supply or sell to a child or young person under the laws of the place where the gaming machine is made available for use.

Payment limits

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• (1) Subject to regulation 9, where a gaming machine is made available for use, a person must not be able, by means of a single action, to make a payment in respect of the use of the machine which exceeds, in any case to which paragraphs (2) to (7) apply, the amount specified in the relevant paragraph.

• (2) In relation to—

• (a) a Category A machine where the payment is of money or money’s worth, and

• (b) a Category B or C machine, where the payment is of money,

the amount is £20.

• (3) In relation to a Category B or C machine where—

• (a) the payment is of money’s worth, and

• (b) either—

• (i) the machine is manufactured on or after 1st September 2007, or

• (ii) it is a non-compliant machine,

the amount is £20.

• (4) In relation to a Category B1, B2 or B3 machine where—

• (a) the payment is of money’s worth,

• (b) the payment satisfies—

• (i) the supervision condition in paragraph (8),

• (ii) the collection condition in paragraph (9), or

• (iii) partly satisfies the supervision condition, with the payment of the remaining amount satisfying the collection condition,

• (c) the machine is manufactured before 1st September 2007, and

• (d) immediately before that date the machine is designed or adapted for payments of money’s worth to be made in relation to its use,

the amount is £100.

• (5) In relation to a Category B1, B2 or B3 machine which meets the conditions in sub-paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) of paragraph (4), but in respect of which the condition in sub-paragraph (b) is not met, the amount is £20.

• (6) In relation to a Category B3A, B4 or C machine where—

• (a) the payment is of money’s worth, and

• (b) the machine is manufactured before 1st September 2007,

the amount is £20.

• (7) In relation to a Category D machine, where the payment is of money or money’s worth, the amount is £2.

• (8) The supervision condition is that a payment of money’s worth in respect of the use of a Category B1, B2 or B3 gaming machine must—

• (a) be made by means of a document or object which is purchased or obtained from a person acting in the course of a business carried on by an authorised person; or

• (b) be processed by a person acting in the course of such a business.

• (9) The collection condition is that a payment of money’s worth in respect of the use of a Category B1, B2 or B3 gaming machine must be made by means of—

• (a) a document or object collected as a prize from use of a gaming machine, or

• (b) a document or object delivered by a gaming machine as a means of returning an amount held to the credit of the person using the machine.

• (10) In this regulation—

• “authorised person” means a person who holds an operating licence which authorises making gaming machines available for use;

• “non-compliant machine” means a Category B gaming machine manufactured before 1st September 2007 which does not comply with the condition in paragraph (4)(d); and

• “payment of money’s worth” includes circumstances where—a person pays money in relation to use of a gaming machine, andthat payment is made otherwise than by inserting money into the machine.

• (11) Where a person makes a payment in respect of a gaming machine, only those amounts of the payment which are—

• (a) used to pay a charge for use, or

• (b) held to the credit of a person using the machine,

are to be counted for the purposes of paragraphs (1) to (7).

• (12) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent a person, by means of a series of actions, from making one or more payments which exceed the limits specified in paragraphs (2) to (7) provided that in each case the amount paid by means of a single action complies with the relevant limit.

Payment limits: transitional provisions

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• (1) The limits imposed by regulation 7 on payments in respect of the use of—

• (a) a Category B1, B2 or B3 gaming machine which meets the conditions in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of paragraph (4), and

• (b) a Category B3A, B4 or C gaming machine which meets the conditions in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (6),

do not apply until 1st September 2008.

• (2) The limit imposed by regulation 7 on payments made in respect of the use of a Category B or C gaming machine in the circumstances specified in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b) of that regulation does not apply in the case of a gaming machine manufactured before 1st March 2008, until 1st September 2008.

Committed payment limits

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• (1) This regulation is subject to regulation 11.

• (2) Where a Category A, B or C gaming machine is made available for use, a person must not be able, by means of a single action, to make a committed payment in respect of the use of the machine which exceeds—

• (a) in relation to a Category A, B1, B2, B3 or B3A machine, £10, or

• (b) in relation to a Category B4 or C machine, £5.

• (3) A committed payment is a payment of money or money’s worth where—

• (a) the whole amount is used to pay a charge for use in respect of a gaming machine,

• (b) the whole amount is held by or in relation to a gaming machine as a committed amount, or

• (c) part is used to pay a charge for use, with the remaining amount being held by or in relation to the machine as a committed amount.

• (4) In these Regulations “committed amount”, in relation to a gaming machine, means an amount of money or money’s worth—

• (a) held to the credit of a person using the machine for the purposes of paying one or more charges for use, and

• (b) which, immediately after it is paid or (as the case may be) immediately after the action referred to in paragraph (7) is taken in relation to it, is not recoverable by a person using the machine.

• (5) Where a part (but not the whole) of a payment is treated in one of the ways described in paragraph (3) the amount of that part of the payment must not exceed the limit specified in paragraph (2) in relation to the relevant category of machine.

• (6) Paragraph (5) is without prejudice to any limit which may apply to the whole of the payment by virtue of regulation 7.

• (7) Where a person using a gaming machine performs an action whose effect is to cause an amount held as part of the deposited sum to be—

• (a) used to pay a charge for use in respect of the machine,

• (b) held by or in relation to the machine as a committed amount, or

• (c) partly used to pay a charge for use, with the remaining amount held by or in relation to the machine as a committed amount,

that action is to be treated for the purposes of this regulation as the making of a committed payment.

• (8) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent a person, by means of a series of actions, from making one or more payments which exceed the limits specified in paragraph (2) provided that in each case the amount paid by means of a single action complies with the relevant limit.

• (9) In these Regulations “the deposited sum”, in relation to a gaming machine, means the amount of money or money’s worth—

• (a) which for the time being is held by or in relation to the machine to the credit of a person using the machine, and

• (b) none of which is held as a committed amount.

• (10) The limit in paragraph (2) does not apply, in the case of a Category A or B2 gaming machine which is designed or adapted to allow a person to pay a charge for use by using an amount of the deposited sum in relation to the machine, until 1st March 2008.

Autoplay

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• (1) This regulation applies to a gaming machine, other than a casino jackpot gaming machine, which—

• (a) is made available for use, and

• (b) is designed or adapted to allow a charge for use to be paid by using an amount of the deposited sum in relation to the machine.

• (2) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, a charge for use in respect of such a gaming machine must not be payable by means of an autoplay facility.

• (3) The prohibition in paragraph (2) does not apply to a gaming machine which is designed or adapted so that it meets the conditions in paragraphs (4) and (5).

• (4) The first condition is that—

• (a) a person using the machine is required to perform at least one action in relation to the machine to make an amount of the deposited sum capable of being used to pay a charge for use by means of an autoplay facility, and

• (b) any such action is in addition to a separate action that the person is required to perform to cause the whole or part of that amount to be used to pay more than one charge for use by means of such a facility.

• (5) The second condition is that each amount dealt with in accordance with paragraph (4)(a) does not exceed—

• (a) in relation to a Category A, B1, B2, B3, or B3A machine, £10; and

• (b) in relation to a Category B4 or C machine, £5.

• (6) In these Regulations—

• “autoplay facility” means any facility which enables a person using a gaming machine to pay more than one charge for use in respect of the machine without performing at least one separate action in respect of each charge for use; and

• “casino jackpot gaming machine” means a gaming machine which—immediately before 1st September 2007 is—a machine to which Part 3 of the Gaming Act 1968[^f00007] applies, anddesigned or adapted to be used for gaming in accordance with section 31 of that Act on premises in respect of which a licence under that Act is in force, other than bingo club premises (as defined in section 20 of that Act); andon or after 1st September 2007 is not adapted, other than—to alter its maximum charge for use or prize value; orto comply with the requirements of regulation 3.

• (7) The prohibition in paragraph (2) does not apply, in the case of a gaming machine manufactured before 1st March 2008, until 1st September 2008.

Special provision for Category A and B2 machines

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• (1) This regulation applies to a Category A gaming machine which is designed or adapted to allow a person to pay a charge for use by using an amount of the deposited sum in relation to the machine.

• (1A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) The limit specified in regulation 9(2)(a) does not apply to the payment, in relation to such a machine, of a charge for use which exceeds £10; and, instead, any such payment is subject to the following provisions of this regulation.