Bingo is a game of chance in which players mark numbers or symbols as they are drawn at random, and a prize goes to the first player or players to complete a pattern. Played online, it is remote bingo, and the business running it needs an operating licence from the UK Gambling Commission. On the public register the activity appears as Bingo.
What the Bingo activity means
The word Bingo on a register entry tells you the licensee is authorised to provide bingo gambling. For an online operator that means rooms where numbers are drawn by software, with tickets bought for a stake and prizes paid to the winners. Related games, such as instant win or slot-style products sold inside a bingo brand, may fall under other activities, in particular Casino. That is why it is useful to read the whole activity list for an operator rather than the first line.
Bingo activity sits alongside the other remote activities explained on our licence types page. The Commission's field list describes the start date for each activity as the date the business was most recently granted a licence to operate it.
What the register shows in our data
Eight of the twelve operators on this site's licensed casinos list show the Bingo activity, as read on 9 November 2026. Start dates run from 1 November 2014 to 2025, with several falling in between. Operators without it include those whose entries list only casino or casino with pool betting, such as the holder page for PPB Games Limited. Operators with it include Jupiter Gaming Limited, whose entry shows Bingo with a start date in 2025.
Remote and non-remote bingo
Remote bingo is online. Non-remote bingo happens in a bingo hall or other premises. The distinction matters for how the business is regulated. A bingo hall needs an operating licence from the Commission and premises permissions from the local licensing authority, and the register has a separate section for premises. An online bingo operator has no premises licence, since the bingo is played over the internet.
The Commission's industry statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 give a sense of scale for the premises side. Non-remote bingo gross gambling yield was £703.8 million, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year. Of that, £242.1 million came from bingo games and £461.7 million from bingo machines. The remote figure sits in the Commission's separate online statistics, where online gambling yield in Great Britain was £8.3 billion in the year to March 2026.
Who needs a bingo licence
Any business providing bingo to people in Great Britain by remote means needs a licence. Section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 makes the provision of gambling facilities without a licence an offence, and section 36 confirms it applies to remote gambling used in Great Britain. For an overseas operator, the 2014 amendment says the offence applies if the operator knows or should know the facilities are used, or likely to be used, in Great Britain.
The offence sits with the operator. A player who joins a bingo site without a UKGC licence does not commit an offence, but the site is not part of GAMSTOP, the Commission complaint route does not reach it, and the UK stake and checks rules do not apply. Our GAMSTOP page explains the scheme, and the age 18 plus page covers the age rule that applies to licensed bingo.
Rules that come with the licence
A licensed bingo operator is bound by the licence conditions and codes of practice, including:
- verifying customer identity and age before allowing gambling,
- providing tools such as deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion,
- taking part in GAMSTOP, the national online self-exclusion scheme,
- handling complaints and providing access to an approved dispute service,
- following the Commission's rules on wagering terms and advertising where they apply.
Those rules are described on our trust and safety page. The online slot stake caps apply to slot games, not to bingo tickets as such, so check which product a rule covers.
Reading the status
An Active status means the licence is in force. Pending means a new licence or a variation is not yet active. Suspended means the Commission has stopped the activity while it investigates. Revoked, Surrendered, Lapsed, Expired and Forfeited mean the licence no longer works. Also check each domain: the register gives domains an Active, Inactive or White label status, and a white label domain is run for another business under its licence.
To check a bingo brand, search the Commission's register by account number, business name, trading name or domain name, open the entry and read the activity list. Our guide to checking a UKGC licence takes you through it. For the casino and betting activities, see remote casino and remote betting.
Gambling help
Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. If bingo is becoming hard to manage, the GamCare National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133 at any hour, and there is support at GamCare. You can exclude yourself from licensed sites with GAMSTOP, and BeGambleAware provides advice.