DGOJ to Provide Grants for Gambling Harm Research

The Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs has asked the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), a body that regulates gambling in the country, to launch a new grant initiative. The ministry asked the regulator to help fund organizations that deal with gambling harm.

As a result, a €1.6m fund was created. The money will be used to support organizations that prevent problem gambling and will be provided to organizations through grants.

The grants, the DGOJ said, will be granted to the best applicants. Eligible companies are ones that are based in Spain and have backgrounds in research-development intelligence. Healthcare and welfare organizations linked to the National Health System, as well as private research centers and research-oriented charities can also apply for a grant.

The new grant initiative is in line with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ harsh stance on gambling. Alberto Garzon, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, has made it clear that he intends to protect at-risk demographics, such as lower-income communities. He regrets that not enough is being done to tackle gambling harm.

The Grant Recipients Will Research Harm Identification Tools

The new grant project’s goal will be researching tools that can identify high-risk customers and prevent further harm. As proven by research in other markets, early identification of customers with addictive tendencies can be the key to minimizing the gambling harm rates.

The DGOJ will require grant recipients to research how customers’ background affects their behavior and how this can be used to identify harm early on. As a result, the research will probe into the effect of people’s physical and mental health, financial situation, workplace, social relationships and legal difficulties on gambling harm.

In addition to that, research organizations will be asked to see if they can identify a link between video gaming and gambling of any kind. The Ministry and the DGOJ will also requir gender-based statistics on that matter.

The Spanish Market Is Getting Stricter

The DGOJ is currently consulting the current state of gambling regulation in the country. Depending on the results of the aforementioned research, the authority may find propose new changes.

In the meantime, operators have 12 months to implement new safer gambling measures outlined in the Royal Decree on Responsible Gaming Environments. The latter measure will further tighten the rules in Spain, making it an even stricter market than it was before.

In other news, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia just proposed regulating online celebrities, such as vloggers, content creators and gambling streamers.