The French gambling regulator says all sectors of the industry have more work to do to tackle and reduce gambling harms in line with the authority’s goals.
L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) said that operators’ action plans for preventing excessive gambling and underage gambling showed progress from stakeholders.
However, it said this work must be “continued and expanded,” with “further efforts” needed to reduce the number of people experiencing gambling harm.
From FDJ United and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), the ANJ wants more point-of-sale checks and a clear penalty framework.
The regulator also wants the companies to improve the identification of and support for those experiencing gambling harms, by testing a new player identification model in retail settings and by training and monitoring retail staff.
For the 16 licensed online gaming operators, including the likes of Kindred's Unibet and Banijay Gaming's Betclic, the ANJ said it had seen “notable progress” in reducing gambling harms through player awareness tools such as personalised player feedback on their gaming activities.
“Higher standards for identifying and supporting problem gamblers,” meanwhile, have led to an increased number of at-risk players being identified and assisted.
However, the regulator said online operators must identify more at-risk players, aligned with the size of their player base and prevalence studies.
They have been told to deliver “verifiable, measurable results” which will be subject to audits and, if applicable, implement additional gambling limits for “high-risk products” such as live betting.
In the land-based casino sector, the ANJ said that overall, it had noticed “improving identification and support of excessive gamblers, especially through better staff training.”
But while some groups have adopted best practices to support responsible gaming, it said others have shown “little progress” on that front since 2021.
Only one casino operator’s action plan for reducing gambling harms was rejected.
To better support the sector, the ANJ said over 760 individuals have completed an e-learning program with practical tools for identifying and addressing gambling issues since its launch in November 2024.
For racetracks, the ANJ wants to see “clear separation” between family-friendly areas and betting zones and wants operators to ensure children’s entertainment does not promote gambling.
The regulator added that measures to support at-risk players at racetracks are “still lacking.”
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