ANJ Rolls Out New Guidelines for iGaming Promotions

Summary

• ANJ introduced the new guidelines to improve market standards
• New guidelines are a part of ANJ’s ongoing review of gambling advertising standards
• New guidelines require operators to observe transparency when sending offers

France’s gambling regulator, L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has introduced a new set of guidelines regarding the promotion of online gambling offers and rewards to players.

The new rules are aimed at improving market standards and offering full transparency on rewards and incentives offered to consumers.

New Guidelines Focus on Transparency

ANJ has been looking into the advertising and marketing practices of licensed operators in France as part of the agency’s regulatory agenda for the year. At the start of 2022, the regulator already notified gambling businesses that it would implement changes to the rules governing industry offers that involve financial rewards like bonuses, free bets, and welcome packages, placing greater attention on transparency and player safeguards.

Under the new guidelines, operators are required to provide key information on their offers, including the deposit and wagering requirements, the rewards process (whether the incentive will be awarded in real money or as game credits), the duration of the offer, and further conditions.

ANJ said they’ve been receiving customer complaints regarding the “lack of clarity” of certain commercial offers which sometimes leads to disputes. In some instances, terms like “free” or “offered” are used incorrectly by operators, causing confusion among sports betting or casino players.

The regulator said operators must be fully transparent when promoting commercial offers, adding that the terms and conditions must be written legibly and must be fully available to customers.

ANJ Also Seeks to Improve Consumer Safeguards

ANJ also aims to enhance consumer safeguards by moderating the use of commercial offers targeting French players. Moving forward, the agency will closely monitor the volume of bonus offers and other incentives posted by operators. This subject will be heavily tackled during the annual review of the operators’ promotional strategies and the steps they’ll take to protect consumers from excessive gambling, the regulator said.

According to the regulator, welcome bonuses must not exceed €100, and customers must be given the option to opt out of receiving gambling offers. ANJ also told operators they must exercise vigilance to ensure that players registered to the self-exclusion scheme and those exhibiting problem gambling behavior are excluded from the offers.

The new guidelines come less than two weeks after ANJ added six members to its Sanctions Commission. The regulator’s review of advertising standards in the French gambling industry is still ongoing. The review is carried out in partnership with the country’s advertising regulatory agency ARPP and audiovisual communications regulator ARCOM.