BOS calls for Swedish deposit cap to be lifted with other Covid-19 measures

The Swedish online gambling trade association has written to the Swedish government to ask for the country’s online casino deposit cap to be lifted ahead of schedule.

Sweden.- The online gambling trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has called for Swedish government to lift restrictions on the sector this month alongside the lifting of other Covid-19 countermeasures.

The current restrictions, which include a SEK5,000 (€490) deposit cap, were imposed in July 2020 and have been extended several times, most recently until November 14. However, the Swedish government has announced that it will lift all general Covid-19 countermeasures in the country on September 29.

BOS says that the online casino restrictions should be lifted on the same date since they were imposed due to concerns that there could be an increase in problem gambling while the country was under lockdown.

It also noted that the state-owned land-based casino chain Casino Cosmopol reopened on July 7 without the restrictions that apply to the online sector.

BOS secretary general Gustaf Hoffstedt wrote in a letter to the government: “The fact that the government announced on 7 September that most of the general restrictions will be removed from 29 September this year is, of course, an even clearer signal of the government’s ambition to return Sweden to a normal situation.

“This includes the Swedish Public Health Agency’s advice to withdraw the advice to work from home, which was the main argument for the temporary regulation on gambling liability measures, as it was claimed that increased stays at home would lead to increased gambling problems with online casino gambling.”

Earlier this year, BOS along with several operators launched the website Fakta om spel (“Facts about Gaming”) in a bid to dispel misconceptions about the Swedish gambling industry. BOS said the site would contribute to the debate on gambling with a fact-based approach.