Casinia operator ordered to leave Swedish market

The Swedish gambling regulator has banned Ease Gaming NV from operating in Sweden.

Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has issued an order banning Curacao-based Ease Gaming NV from operating Casinia.com and other online gambling businesses in Sweden. Ease Gaming does not have a Swedish online gambling licence but Spelinspektionen found that its site had been available to Swedish customers.

The Swedish regulator noted that Casinia.com featured information in Swedish and offered customer support in Swedish. It found it was also possible to choose Sweden as a country of residence when creating an account.

As well as Casinia, Ease Gaming has been banned from offering gambling in Sweden via its Slothive, Gamblii and Jinxcasino brands.

Spelinspektionen said: “The Gambling Act applies to games provided in Sweden, with specifically stated exceptions. It is based on the principle that everyone active on the Swedish gaming market must have a licence. It is therefore not permitted to provide games without a licence when one is required.

“The purpose of the regulation is for gambling to be channelled to offers from responsible, reliable and controllable players. Spelinspektionen considers that, with regard to consumer protection and to guarantee gaming safety, it is important that the decision be complied with immediately.”

Earlier this week, Spelinspektionen announced new rules prohibiting autoplay in online slots and banning reverse withdrawals (the cancellation of a withdrawal before it reaches their account). Operators must also log players out if they have been inactive for more than two minutes or give them an option to choose whether to remain logged in.

Operators have also been prohibited from suggesting what limits players should impose for time, deposits and losses. The new rules see Sweden follow other jurisdictions that have banned autoplay, including Britain. Both indefinite autoplay and autoplay for a set number of spins will be banned.

Spelinspektonen said it recognised that the new rules may be unpopular with players, and it suggested that operators communicate them in advance before they come into effect.

Meanwhile, Spelinspektionen has hit the Swedish horse racing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) with a SEK2m (€187,500) penalty fee for self-exclusion failings. The self-exclusion function was not available to some customers using the operator’s services for two weeks between January 13 and 28. Specifically, the function was unavailable to customers who logged in using a mobile bank ID.