Social Safeguards for Problem Gambling to Protect Vulnerable Groups
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Seah Kian Peng’s inquiry into current social safeguards, protections for vulnerable groups, and initiatives promoting responsible gambling. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M highlighted measures such as casino entry levies, age restrictions, and automatic exclusions for undischarged bankrupts and financial aid recipients. He detailed the National Council on Problem Gambling’s powers to issue exclusion orders and the introduction of real-time spending notifications at casinos and online platforms. Furthermore, the Minister noted enhanced training for Responsible Gambling Ambassadors and the implementation of betting limits and self-assessment tools by Singapore Pools. Efforts are also underway to ensure fruit machine room operators adopt standardized responsible gambling practices to protect patrons and provide necessary assistance.
Transcript
126 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what are the current social safeguards for gambling; (b) what are the measures to protect vulnerable groups from gambling; and (c) what is the current campaign to improve the situation of responsible gambling.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Singapore has stringent social safeguards for gambling. At the broad level, gambling operators are prohibited from extending credit to locals, with the exception of premium players in the casinos, all advertising and promotions are restricted and require approvals from the Casino Regulatory Authority. There are also minimum ages for all legal gambling products, in order to protect minors. You have to be 18 years old and above to place bets at Singapore Pools’ outlets and 21 years old and above to enter the casino, to enter the fruit machine rooms in private clubs and to bet remotely with Singapore Pools.
To enter the casinos, Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are required to purchase an entry levy. It is $150 for a daily levy and $3,000 for the annual levy. This is to deter casual gambling and signal that casino gambling is only for those who can afford to do so.
To bet remotely with the Singapore Pools, an account holder has to set monthly deposit and betting limits. The individual will be notified when the bet amount exceeds 50%, 75% or reaches 100%, and he is unable to deposit or place bets for the rest of the month. If he wishes to increase the bet limit, it will only take effect after 24 hours. This is to deter impulse betting.
To protect vulnerable groups, we take a preventive approach for the most financially vulnerable. For example, undischarged bankrupts and those who are receiving financial aid or subsidies from the Government such as ComCare Short-to-Medium Term assistance or legal aid are automatically barred from entering the casinos, fruit machine rooms in private clubs and from betting online with Singapore Pools.
The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) also has powers under the Casino Control Act to limit the number of visits an individual can make to the casino each month, under the Third Party Visit Limit regime. If the individual has incurred debt due to gambling, NCPG may even bar the person from entering the casino by issuing a Third Party Exclusion Order.
Many have also chosen the Self-Exclusion Scheme to voluntarily exclude themselves from the casinos or fruit machine rooms in private clubs, or from opening an online account with Singapore Pools.
For individuals impacted by gambling directly or indirectly, they can contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1800-6-668-668 or webchat service to seek advice and e-Counselling anonymously, or request for face-to-face counselling with NCPG’s appointed agency. Within the community, there are also various Social Service Agencies running support groups for those with gambling problems.
Responsible gambling measures are preventive efforts required of gambling operators. In 2019, we asked the casinos to move further upstream to encourage responsible gambling at the individual level by using technology to provide real time information on the amount of time and money spent directly to the patrons. Similar to the real time notifications available on Singapore Pools’ online betting service, this tool helps individuals make informed decisions on whether they should continue or stop gambling when their spending has reached certain pre-set levels. Both casinos are studying how best to implement this and their respective systems are at the trial implementation stage.
MSF has also worked with the casinos to enhance training for the Responsible Gambling Ambassadors, to guide them on educating patrons on the myths of gambling, to give them the necessary language and confidence to offer help to patrons at risk of gambling problems.
Singapore Pools has also strengthened responsible gambling for remote gambling, which now include a self-assessment tool and an option to increase the betting limits temporarily for a specified period of time, for example, for the World Cup season, instead of permanently.
We are also working with Fruit Machine Room operators to adopt Responsible Gambling Standards, including basic requirements such as providing information and assistance to patrons. MSF will continue to work with the various operators to strengthen their responsible gambling measures.