Section 344: Participation Fees
851.This section provides a definition of “participation fee” for the purposes of the Act. Under various Parts of the Act, powers are taken to prescribe maximum participation fees for gambling (e.g. under Parts 5 and 12), or participation fees are prohibited in relation to certain forms of gambling (e.g. private gaming under Part 14). This section describes the matters which may or may not count as a participation fee. It gives the Secretary of State power to provide that a membership subscription is to be treated as a participation fee, as an exception to the general rule set out in subsection (1).
852.Subsection (4) allows the Secretary of State to deal with the apportionment of participation fees where the fee covers both gambling and non-gambling activities. An example of when this could be used is where a participation fee limit is set for the admission charge to premises where gambling takes place (see subsection (1)(b)), but some of that sum is referable to non-gambling activities. In such circumstances the fee could be apportioned, and only the gambling element of it limited. This power applies to all participation fee powers under the Act.