Bingo Operators Have to Pay More for Licenses

by Hollie Sanders

Bingo and gambling operators in Scarborough are going to be expected to cough up an extra ₤75 a year for their licenses. The Scarborough Evening News reported that the local licensing authority has released a report in which they are suggesting that bingo and gaming licenses should be increased by 9% to compensate for regulating the industry. Now we already know about the fact that taxes are discriminatory against bingo, what next?

Bingo operators would see their license fees increasing from ₤850 to ₤925 annually and the knock on effect of this to the industry will obviously have some impact on bingo players.

Andy Skelton, the Scarborough Council spokesman said that “the work involved with enforcing the Act and the administration of same was more demanding than they had expected it to be, as well as the amount of licenses they had anticipated issuing was less” and this is the reason for the increase.

The new licensing system was introduced last year, it means the UK Government may decide what license fees should be charge, however, local licensing committees have the power to choose the exact amount to charge within the UK Governments parameters.