Swedish government to extend online casino limits until November 2021
Trade association BOS attacks “provocative” proposal as contrary to initial consumer protection aim
Sweden’s Ministry of Finance has proposed the extension of temporary Covid-19 online casino deposit and bonus restrictions until 14 November at the earliest.
The restrictions were initially implemented to protect consumers during lockdown and had been due to expire in June 2021.
However, the government department has now suggested they should be extended to November due to the pandemic situation in Sweden.
“We see that the spread of Covid-19 is still high in Sweden,” said Swedish Minister for Social Affairs Ardalan Shekarabi.
“The current situation entails great risks for consumers in the gaming market. We therefore need to act to reduce the risks for the most vulnerable consumers,” he added.
The proposal calls for the SEK5,000 (£480) deposit limit and bonus cap of SEK100 be maintained, as well as making it mandatory for players to set playing time limits on online casino sites.
The measures have been universally derided by Swedish-licensed operators. Many have claimed the restrictions run contrary to their stated aim of enhancing player protection by forcing players to visit unlicensed sites on the unregulated black market.
Sweden-licensed operators including LeoVegas, Kindred Group, Betsson and Videoslots have publicly opposed the measures. Videoslots recently challenged the application of the Covid-19 measures in the Swedish courts, a case which is still ongoing.
The Swedish Agency for Public Management found in its report that while the overall gambling channelisation rate to licensed operators had remained stable since the introduction of the measures at around 85%, the channelisation rate for online casino had in fact shrunk to 75%.
Addressing the proposed extension, BOS CEO Gustaf Hoffstedt said: “I have previously stated that there is nothing as lasting as a political promise of something temporary.
“The government seems unaware that their own expert authority, the Swedish Agency for Public Management, stated that the leakage from the Swedish gaming market to the unregulated gaming market is alarmingly high.
“The leakage for online casinos is particularly high, where as much as every fourth gaming krona is played outside of the Swedish-licensed market.
“To extend restrictions that are disapproved by gaming consumers is to ask for continued problems for the channeling into the licensed market when it comes to online casinos.
“Thus, Swedish gaming consumers will lose out on the consumer protection that the Swedish parliament has decided will apply in our country.
“It is provocative that the Swedish government, in a rhetoric about caring for the consumer, in practice does the opposite,” Hoffstedt concluded.
The proposal has been released ahead of a month-long consultation process, with stakeholders given until 3 May to submit their responses.