The Swedish government and the country’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, have agreed to reinstate temporary restrictions for online gambling.
Temporary restrictions were first introduced in June of 2021 and included a mandatory limit on play time, an SEK5,000 weekly deposit limit for online gambling and an SEK100 cap on any bonus offers.
The measures were put in place by Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs Ardalan Shekarabi, in an effort to mitigate the possibility of people developing dangerous gambling habits during the country’s pandemic-enforced lockdowns. All measures were lifted in November 2021, but due to the recent spread of the Omicron variant of covid, the government felt that an reintroduction was now required.
Spelinspektionen had no cause to oppose the reinstatement of the measures and the matter is now open for consultation. The proposed start date for the new restrictions is February 7th with an end date of June 30th 2022.
The government has also recommended that the new measures include a lower weekly deposit limit of SEK4,000.
Yet while the gambling authority is not opposed to the new restrictions, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has voiced its disapproval.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General, has argued that the new limits are making it tougher for operators to ensure that their players are protected from the harms of problem gambling. His reasoning is that players are now opening new gambling accounts in order to circumvent the measures.
“The restrictions create incentives for the high-volume consumer to, instead of playing with a single gaming company, instead play with many companies, in order to thus override the deposit limit”
He also added that:
“It also creates additional incentives for consumers to move away from the regulated market.”
An evaluation regarding the merits of the reinstatement of the restrictions is now underway with an ultimate deadline of March 15th 2022. However, it is hoped that the measures will be back in effect by the government’s proposed start date of February 7th.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.
