Gambling Commission fees rose by 25% in Great Britain on October 1, 2026. The increase affects the cost of holding, applying for and changing several gambling licences.

The revised schedule covers remote casino and betting operators, software suppliers, personal licence holders and land-based businesses. The final impact depends on the licence type and the operator’s gross gambling yield, or GGY.

The changes follow a Department for Culture, Media and Sport consultation held between January 27 and March 30, 2026. The government published its response on June 30, 2026. The Gambling Commission then confirmed that the new fees would take effect on October 1.

What changed on October 1

The headline increase applies to most operating licence fees. It is not a flat cash rise for every business. Fees now vary across revised GGY categories and licence types.

  • Operating licence fees generally rise by 25%.
  • Personal licence fees rise by 25%.
  • Variation and corporate-control applications rise by 25%.
  • Supplementary operating licence and single-machine permit fees rise by 25%.
  • First annual fees remain set at 75% of the annual fee.

GGY means an operator’s revenue after winnings are paid. It does not mean the total amount staked by customers.

That distinction matters. The revised bands link licence costs to the scale of regulated gambling activity, so the same percentage increase does not produce the same bill for every licence holder.

Remote casino and betting businesses face a wider fee table

For remote casino licences, the new annual bands begin at £7,000 for businesses with annual GGY below £250,000. They rise through several categories and reach £1,453,949 for operators generating more than £1.6 billion.

Operators above that level face an additional charge for each complete £200 million in annual GGY. The figures come from the government’s response to the fee consultation.

Remote general betting operators also move into new GGY-based categories. For real-event betting licences, annual fees range from £5,937 at the lowest band to more than £1.4 million for the largest operators, before additional charges above £1.6 billion in annual GGY.

The practical effect is uneven. A large operator pays more in cash, while a smaller business may move into a different category based on its reported GGY for the 2025 to 2026 regulatory year.

Society lotteries are protected, while bookmakers get a new calculation

Society lottery licence fees are frozen at their existing levels. The government said higher charges could reduce the money available for good causes.

Non-remote general betting limited licences are treated differently. Fees are no longer based on the number of days a bookmaker operates. They are now calculated from GGY.

The new annual fees start at £252 for GGY below £100,000. They rise to £356 for £100,000 to £200,000, £459 for £200,000 to £300,000, and £563 plus further charges above £300,000.

According to the government’s impact assessment, 44% of operators in this category are expected to receive a fee reduction. A further 53% are expected to face an increase of only £22, from £230 to £252.

The 25% headline rise does not tell the whole story. The revised structure freezes society lottery fees and is expected to reduce costs for some smaller bookmakers.

Why the government approved the increase

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the Gambling Commission has annual budget deficits of about £4 million.

Even after the fee rise, the regulator will need to find at least £8 million in efficiency savings over the next five years.

The government also confirmed £26 million in additional Treasury funding over three years for work against illegal gambling. That money is separate from the licence fees paid by regulated businesses.

The Commission said its funding must support core licensing, compliance and consumer-protection work. The government’s response noted that about a quarter of assessments covering crime prevention and consumer protection in 2025 to 2026 found significant failings or led to special measures.

The fee increase changes how Britain’s regulated gambling market pays for supervision, enforcement and action against illegal operators.

Operators already face several cost pressures

During the consultation, most industry respondents opposed an increase. Operators pointed to recent gambling duty changes and the new statutory gambling levy as additional costs.

The government rejected a phased introduction. It said delaying the full increase would deepen the Commission’s deficit and risk cuts to key regulatory work.

For the largest operators, the government estimates that fees will rise from about 0.1% of annual GGY to around 0.15%. Businesses generating between £10 million and £100 million are expected to move from about 0.18% to 0.22% of GGY.

More than 1,100 smaller operators generating less than £10 million in annual GGY are expected to receive a cash reduction under the revised structure.

That makes the headline 25% figure a poor guide to the bill facing any individual licence holder. The operator’s GGY band and licence type matter more than the headline percentage.

Great Britain only

The revised fees apply to Gambling Commission licensing under the Gambling Act 2005 in Great Britain.

They do not create a single gambling licensing system for Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. Operators serving customers across those territories must consider the separate legal and regulatory arrangements that apply outside Great Britain.

What businesses need to check

  • The operator’s new GGY fee category.
  • The annual fee for each remote, non-remote or software activity.
  • Any upcoming application, variation or corporate-control filing.
  • Personal licence and supplementary licence costs.
  • Whether regulatory return data for 2025 to 2026 has been allocated correctly.

The new schedule puts a higher price on entry and continued operation in Britain’s regulated gambling market.

It also makes accurate regulatory returns more important. Those figures now help determine the fee category itself.