RGD and FOBT changes could be pushed back to October 2019

The rise in Remote Gaming Duty and corresponding cut to FOBT stakes is to be postponed until October 2019, according to new media reports.

The changes were recently reported to be implemented in April 2019 but pressure from bookmakers has forced chancellor Philip Hammond to delay the impact, according to a report from the Guardian.

Hammond is also reported to have been swayed by new culture secretary Jeremy Wright, who met with bookmakers in July after taking over from former culture secretary Matt Hancock.

Remote Gambling Association chair Clive Hawkswood told EGR the trade body had been “told categorically” by ministers the two changes will come in at the same time.

It is still unclear whether RGD will rise to 20% or 25%, with analysts speculating the uncertainty has caused the recent sell-off in gambling stocks.

In meetings of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee yesterday afternoon, Wright called the FOBT cuts “a very good thing and that many parliamentarians deserve credit for it”

However, Wright said there was a need to preserve “the necessary preparations that the industry has to make to ensure there aren’t unnecessary job losses on the high street in the process of making this change.”

In the meeting, Wright declined to comment on the specific implementation date but said that some of the estimates that were being used were “too late” in his opinion.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, co-founder of Gamban and one of the leading advocates for a reduction in FOBT stakes said; “After a two-year consultation, and 6 months since the government described FOBTs as a social blight, to give the bookies yet another year to run a software update they could do in a day is inexcusable. More people will get addicted and more lives will be destroyed as a result of any unnecessary delay.”