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eCOGRA In UK Online Gambling Mediation Role

eCOGRA In UK Online Gambling Mediation Role

Added: March 20, 2015

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission has authorised eCOGRA to operate as an Alternative Dispute Resolution service provider for British players wagering at sites licensed and regulated by it. Giving out this information through a press release, eCOGRA stated this dispute resolution service would be free and could be availed by the player when he is unable to resolve the dispute directly with the operator. The Gambling Commission has been given oversight of all legal gambling operators, including online casinos, which access the British market under the new point of consumption-based remote gambling legislation. eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge revealed this week that 355 UK Gambling Commission licensed sites have already elected to use his company's Alternative Dispute Resolution service. This includes leading online gambling operators such as 32Red, 888, bet-at-home, BetClic Everest, Betway, bwin.party, Casino Rewards, Paf and Unibet.

eCOGRA is well-known in the online gambling industry, which it has served for the past 12 years. It has been involved in setting and monitoring high operational and player treatment standards. eCOGRA was selected for dispute resolution because it has been acting as an impartial mediator in issues between players and operators. This free dispute resolution service can be accessed from the web site of eCOGRA. It is headed by Tex Rees, who is a Clear ADR Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator. Since 2003 Rees has been involved in the resolution of more than 8,000 disputes involving players at online casinos and other online gambling sites that have been certified as “Safe and Fair” by eCOGRA.

Beveridge conveyed in the press release that eCOGRA has developed a sophisticated software system in order to manage and expedite the resolution of disputes with Gambling Commissioned licensed operators. And when this is combined with the considerable experience that eCOGRA has in online gambling mediation, most disputes would be resolved within 72 hours. Rees added that the organization knows how important it is to players to have an impartial mediator handling their issues with online gambling operators. The operators accept eCOGRA as a mediator because they prefer the full suite of services involving independent third parties as required by Gambling Commission regulations from one source. Many clients already use eCOGRA for games testing in their capacity as an approved test house and for performing the statutory annual security audits.

Apart from the United Kingdom, eCOGRA has been approved by the regulatory authority of Denmark. In addition, eCOGRA is a testing agency with several online gaming jurisdictions.