Gambling Commission extends deadline for deposit-limit rule changes

The UK Gambling Commission has extended the deadline for operators to implement the second phase of its updated deposit-limit rules. The extension is three months. 

The regulator confirmed on Tuesday that the original 30 June 2026 deadline has now been pushed back to 30 September 2026. The decision followed feedback from licensed operators. They said more time was needed to meet the new technical and compliance requirements. 

The second phase forms part of wider changes to the Remote Technical Standards (RTS), first introduced in October 2025 to strengthen customer-led safer gambling tools. 

Operators given more time to comply 

The delayed implementation stage focuses on standardising how deposit limits are presented to customers and making them more prominent across gambling platforms. 

Under the updated rules, remote operators will be required to offer gross deposit limits to customers. Operators that previously removed gross deposit limits may need to restore them before the new deadline. 

The commission also said the term “deposit limits” must only be used for gross deposit limits going forward. These limits must be presented with at least equal prominence compared to other financial limit tools available on gambling sites. 

The regulator added that only gross deposit limits will be mandatory on fixed time periods. Other financial controls may still be offered on rolling or fixed schedules. This would depend on the operator’s systems. 

Operators will also need to update customer communications, help pages and compliance reporting processes before the September deadline. 

Deposit limit changes linked to Gambling Act review 

The deposit-limit measures were first proposed in February 2025 as part of the Gambling Act review white paper reforms. 

At the time, the Gambling Commission said the changes would provide consumers with “more effective” ways to manage gambling spending and improve consistency across the sector. 

The first phase of the RTS changes came into force in October 2025. These measures included prompting new customers to set financial limits when opening accounts and reminding customers every six months to review their gambling activity. 

Operators were also required to offer financial limits using free-text entry fields to help customers set personalised spending controls. 

Speaking when the original RTS changes were announced, Gambling Commission director of major policy projects Helen Rhodes said the reforms would improve “consistency and clarity” for consumers while still allowing operators to offer different forms of financial limits. 

Commission issues warning over RTS annex 

Alongside the extension announcement, the commission also warned operators about an earlier version of the RTS 12 annex document. 

The regulator said the version published on 7 October 2025 contained minor errors and had been temporarily removed. Operators were advised to discard copies downloaded before 22 May and obtain the corrected version once republished. 

The updated RTS 12 annex and consultation response documents will now come into force on 30 September 2026.