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Joe.rendall@thejockeyclub.co.uk

A report that online betting turnover dropped by £3 billion, or about US$3.8 billion, in the last two years has raised alarm in the United Kingdom.

Racing Post reported that according to the Gambling Commission, online turnover on racing fell to about $10.6 billion for the year ended in March, from about $12.7 billion two years earlier.

If turnover had grown in line with inflation during the same period, it would now stand at nearly $14.6 billion, according to the report.

A member of Parliament and the Betting and Gaming Council called for urgent action on accountability checks after the report, according to Racing Post.

Accountability checks have been proposed but not enacted into law. Scott Burton of Racing Post said companies have been conducting such checks to prevent being fined by the Gambling Commission, which has contributed to the decline in betting.

As proposed in April, the checks would require financial checks on bettors who lose £1,000, or about $1,270, within 24 hours or £2,000 in 90 days, according to iGamingBusiness.com.

Passive checks would be performed on bettors who have a net loss of more than £125, or about $159, each month or £500, about $635, per year, according to the report.

Nick Timothy, a member of Parliament whose constituency includes Newmarket, said, “These statistics show exactly why so many are worrying about the effects of disproportionate affordability checks on horseracing,” according to the Racing Post report. “I’ve raised this problem – along with the need to reform the levy – repeatedly since I was elected and while the words have been warm ministers are yet to come forward with solutions. The decline in betting on horseracing shows how urgent this is.”

In response to the report, the Betting and Gaming Council said, “urgent action is needed now to deliver genuinely frictionless, targeted spending checks, and a new anti-money laundering code, to prevent unnecessary intrusion on customers who are not at risk of harm.