Danish operators face new responsible gambling rules

Danish licence holders will be legally obligated to operate enact of responsible gambling procedures for the first time, following the publication of new guidelines by the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA).

The guide, which applies as of January 2020, requires all operators to consult the country’s national self-exclusion register, ROFUS, before accounts are created and deny registration for any player who has previously self-excluded via ROFUS.

Licence holders should offer the player the option to self-exclude for either 24 hours, 30 days or permanently.

Upon receipt of a permanent self-exclusion request, the licensee must close the account and terminate the customer relationship.

Players who have self-excluded on this basis can only re-register for licensed operators’ sites after one year has elapsed and they must be treated as a new customer by the operator.

Under the new guidelines, Danish players must set a deposit limit before any gambling takes place and should be allowed to choose whether the deposit limit be daily, weekly or monthly.

The deposit limit amount cannot be predetermined by the licence holder and increases or reductions to any deposit limit that has already been agreed can only come into force after a 24-hour period.

Licensees are required to “exercise special caution” when awarding bonus offers and promotions, and bonuses should not be given to players based on the activity level of their account. For example, a bonus should not be used to increase participation by inactive players.

Licensed operators must include a clock providing registered players with the duration of their playing session. This must always be shown on the player’s account and operators must ensure there is no option to scroll away or close the clock during the playing session.

Operators must also include the Danish Gambling Authority logo on all web pages. The guide states that licensed operators must “familiarise himself with the player’s playing patterns and must take measures to prevent gambling in the event the player becomes an at-risk gambler”.

In the case of VIP players, the DGA has highlighted the use of “particularly favourable conditions”, including special bonuses, gifts and participation in VIP events by operators as being of concern.

The guide states that operators using these incentives should be aware of the effect these incentives may have on at-risk gamblers and must act to ensure these types of incentives are not provided to these individuals.

Picture credit: Istock/Ramberg