The Betting and Gaming Council has warned that an upcoming increase in UK gambling licence fees will deepen the financial burden on regulated operators across the country.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its response to a consultation on proposed licence fee changes, which ran from January to March 2026.
The government confirmed that the revised fee structure will take effect from 1 October 2026, raising the Gambling Commission’s overall licence fee income by 25%.
However, the increase will not be applied uniformly across all licence types, with fees restructured into new bands for most operating licences.
Personal licences, supplementary operating licences, and single machine permits will all see a straight 25% rise under the new arrangements.
Most operating licence fees will instead be recalculated based on gross gambling yield, while society lottery fees will be frozen and a new GGY-based model introduced for certain non-remote general betting licence holders.
The DCMS noted that more than 1,100 operators with annual GGY below £10m will actually pay lower fees in cash terms despite the overall income increase to the regulator.
The BGC acknowledged the importance of a well-funded Gambling Commission but stressed that the timing of this fee hike creates serious concerns for licensed businesses already operating under significant strain.
A BGC spokesperson said: “Following recent tax rises and introduction of the statutory levy, it is vital these additional costs do not undermine investment or jobs, or increase the advantage of illegal gambling operators, who pay no tax and offer none of the protections found in the regulated sector.”
The council also stressed that any fee increase must be matched by “greater accountability, transparency and efficiency from the regulator, with a continued focus on evidence-led regulation that protects consumers.”
The BGC repeated long-standing concerns that additional financial pressure on licensed operators risks strengthening the black market, where operators pay no tax and provide none of the consumer protections required of regulated businesses.
In the Commission’s latest annual accounts, covering the 2024-25 financial year, licence fee income totalled £27.4m, meaning a 25% rise would equate to approximately £34.3m annually.
The government said the fee review was necessary because Commission costs had increased significantly since the current structure was introduced in 2021.
It added that without reform, the regulator would be unable to recover the full cost of overseeing the gambling industry through licence fees alone.
Operators will begin paying the new rates when submitting applications or renewing licences after 1 October, with the Commission set to contact businesses in the coming weeks with further details.
