BOS criticises Swedish government’s online casino deposit limits

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has criticised the Government’s proposed change to deposit limits at online casinos.

Sweden.- After Sweden’s government launched a consultation on a new, lower deposit limit for online casinos of SEK4,000 (£325.6/€389.2/$439.2) a month, set to come into force from February, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has expressed its position against the political proposal.

The proposed changes are now out for consultation, with a potential start date for this period on February 7 and an end date on June 30, and were put forward by Ardalan Shekarabi, the governmental Health Minister who has long been at loggerheads with the gambling space.

BOS has come out against the move and called on the government to rethink its proposal. Gustaf Hoffstedt, the Trade Association’s Secretary General, said the new limit will only encourage players to create accounts with more operators, making it harder to monitor their behaviour.

Hoffstedt said: “As the system is designed, it leads to players who want to play for more money than the proposed limit to start up new gaming accounts with new gaming companies.

“Before the deposit limits, you played with one or two gaming companies, but after the introduction of the limits, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of gaming companies per individual player. 

“Thus, the statutory duty of care, which aims for the gaming company to acquire an overall picture of gaming behaviour and offer support to at risk players, is lost.”

In addition to deposit limits, BOS has also maintained opposition to increasingly strict controls on betting and gaming advertising, describing a proposed measure urging the government to reclassify gambling under a ‘special moderation’ advertising segment, forcing gambling to observe the same requirements as Sweden’s tough rules on alcohol advertising, as “illogical”. 

Also, in June 2021, the Trade Association lambasted the Minister’s “unfounded” claim that there was an increase in online gambling during the pandemic, which was used to justify temporary restrictions.

See also: BOS criticises Swedish gambling advertising controls