eCOGRA Will Fight Your Online Gambling Disputes for Free

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Dealing with a dispute involving an online casino operator can be all too frustrating and even discouraging. If you've had the unfortunate experience of having to navigate the systems in place for attempting to resolve a dispute like this, then you've probably wished you had someone you can trust on your side to handle this for you.

Well, the tides are turning and if you spend your hard-earned cash at one of the 355 UKGC-licensed casinos that have chosen to use the e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) service then you're in luck.

Who Are eCOGRA

You're probably already familiar with the name eCOGRA as it was established as far back as 2003. Today it is the leading independent standards authority for online gaming which oversees numerous issues that had until the eCOGRA been sorely neglected. These issues were related to the regulation and protection of the iGaming ecosystem which includes fair gaming, player protections and responsible operator conduct.

An internationally accredited testing agency and non-profit, eCOGRA is heavily relied upon for the inspection and certification of online gambling’s software, systems and casinos. An endeavour which it has thus far done an impressive job of, succeeding in instilling a confidence amongst both regulators and casino players alike.

The eCOGRA service is in good hands as it is headed by Tex Rees, who has helped resolve more than 8,000 disputes over the last 12 years and is qualified as a Clear ADR Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator. He made this statement on the organisation:

"eCOGRA has many clients using us for games testing in our capacity as an approved test house, and for performing annual security audits as required by the UKGC. We've included ADR in our service offering as we know how important it is to players to have an impartial mediator handling their issues with operators. From an operator perspective, it is equally important that our clients can come to us for a full suite of services involving independent third parties as required by UKGC regulations."

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History of eCOGRA

Back in the 1990s, online casinos made its first massive surge with a huge number of players getting all the excitement of an in-person casino over the magic of the internet. However, as anyone who has any experience with online gaming will attest to, the nature of the industry meant that many disputes arose with the issues of fairness and integrity taking centre stage.

Eventually this became a real issue for iGaming and brought a great drop in online casino patrons and inturn revenues. Eventually the eCOGRA was founded in 2003 with the aim of amending the waning confidence players were having with online casinos and bringing a renewed sense of trust to the industry.

eCOGRA’s Role in Online Gambling

eCOGRA has a very much two-fold responsibility to both player protections and operator regulation.

Firstly and perhaps most simply, the organisation strives to keep players informed of their rights and responsibilities when gaming online to ensure any issues that may arise can be avoided or resolved smoothly.

eCOGRA’s most significant contribution continues to be its seal of approval, having been awarded the numerous accreditation, most notably the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) ISO approvals ISO/IEC17025:2017. This achieves both maintaining the industry and its operators’ standards, and then in turn fostering a situation whereby players are aware of these standards and are thus far more likely to trust online casinos when gambling with them.

This effect has been taken a step further today with the eCOGRA now operating a Dispute Mediation department with the role of helping stand up for their rights. Should you have an issue with an online casino that has been approved by eCOGRA that you have been unable to resolve you can contact eCOGRA for support.

Which Casinos Use eCOGRA Today?

Based in the United Kingdom, eCOGRA already offers its free services to some of the world’s best online casinos. The company, which has been authorised as an Alternative Dispute Resolution service provider by the UK Gambling Commission, oversees the licensing of any new operators and regulates all legal casinos currently accessing the market across Great Britain. We always recommend you choose safe and legally operational casinos for this very reason.

The eCOGRA chief executive, Andrew Beveridge, revealed that among the 355 online casinos that have already signed up to use the service are some of the most well-known names in the industry. This includes online casinos such as 32Red, 888, Betway and many more.

"eCOGRA has developed a sophisticated software system to help manage and expedite the resolution of disputes with UKGC-licensed operators, and this, harnessed with the eCOGRA ADR team's considerable experience in online gambling mediation, will help resolve most disputes within 72 hours," Andrew Beveridge said.

If you have a dispute you are not able to handle on your own, you can find out more about the eCOGRA services at www.ecogra.org.

Mike Lorente

Author & Casino Bonus Expert

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With expertise and a knowledge base on casino bonuses that has become extensive over the years, Mike delivers detailed articles and goes the extra mile to help players around the world make an informed decision which is beneficial to them.

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