Spain to assess gambling addiction as mental health disorder

Spanish gambling regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has updated its 2019-20 Responsible Gaming Program, with problem gambling to be classed as a mental disorder going forward.

Approved by members of the Responsible Gaming Advisory Council (CAJR), the measures will be rolled out over the coming months as the DGOJ continues with its efforts to promote responsible gambling in Spain.

The first measure relates to the reclassification of gambling addiction as a mental health issue. The DGOJ and CAJR will put together a list of key variables that will help to identify someone as a problem gambler, as well as the number of people being treated for such issues.

According to the DGOJ, this data will help improve decision-making, guide public policies in this area and address other related issues, such as the social impact of problem gambling.

Meanwhile, the DGOJ will carry out an in-depth study of the General Registry of Access to Game Interdictions (RGIAJ), Spain’s self-exclusion scheme, focusing on any potential regulatory and operational improvements.

This study will include gathering information on the number of consumers that have opted into the scheme, covering their personal backgrounds and situations, as well as the operators that they have gambled.

“Although the evaluation of the operation and results of the RGIAJ is highly satisfactory it is necessary to reflect on those aspects that require adaptations and improvements,” the DGOJ said.

In addition, the DGOJ will seek to establish an alert system to flag up potential ID fraud when signing up to gamble with an operator. The DGOJ already provides its licensed operators with a player verification system to help identify players, but the regulator said further “value-added services” are required to tackle the issue.

The proposed alert service will flag up to a player when someone has attempted to register with an operator using their personal details, when they have already signed up themselves.

“This complements the rest of the work that the DGOJ is doing to reinforce the guarantees of the identity verification process prior to the activation of user registration,” the DGOJ explained.