Jersey thrift club fees cut by gambling commission
New fees for the licence needed to run thrift clubs have been reduced by the Jersey Gambling Commission.
Under a law which came into force on 1 January, the savings clubs were told they needed to pay up to £150 a year to run games such as football cards.
But the commission said after listening to concerns it had "dramatically reduced the planned fees."
The amount a thrift club will pay will now depend on how much it makes minus the value of prizes paid.
So clubs making up to £5,000 will pay a fee of £25, those making up to £10,000 will pay £75 and those that make more than £10,000 will pay £150.
Dr Jason Lane, from the Jersey Gambling Commission, said: "We have listened to what was said when we proposed the original licence system, taken on board some of the concerns expressed, and have come up with a new system.
"The licence fee for the lowest band only just covers the cost of a police check, so the commission is certainly not using this to raise enormous amounts of money."
David Hamilton, a Jersey pub landlord, said the original fees lost him customers.
He said: "I have not got as many members this year as I had last year, which is unfortunate because that hinders my business because they don't come in to pay their thrift, hence they don't buy a drink."
Thrift clubs take subscriptions from members each week, top up the total savings with proceeds from events, raffles and football cards, and pay the money back to members just before Christmas.