New Swedish regulations criticised for causing “chaos”

The Swedish trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) says the country’s new gambling restrictions are causing chaos.

Sweden.- Swedish trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has called for clarity as it says new temporary gambling restrictions introduced this month have caused “chaos” in the industry.

BOS general secretary Gustaf Hoffstedt said that different companies were interpreting the new deposit limits differently due to a lack of clarity.

The Swedish government introduced temporary restrictions on gambling, including time limits and a weekly deposit limit of SEK 5,000 (€459) for online casinos and slots on July 2 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of lockdown measures.

The restrictions are due to remain in place until the end of the year.

But Hoffstedt says companies are interpreting the new rules in different ways, with some also applying the limits to sports betting, which was finally exempt from the measures. He has called on the regulator Spelinspektionen to provide clarity. 

He said: “Most of the gaming companies’ lawyers with whom I spoke are of the opinion that the regulation is unworked and poorly written, which has led players to interpret the regulation differently.

“We were [among the] many who warned that measures, which were not based on facts and thorough impact assessments, could lead to an aggravated situation for both the licensed companies and their customers.

“The chaos that the gaming industry, like other experts, warned of has now occurred. We are now in a situation where neither the private nor the state-controlled companies know how to act and it is obvious that different actors interpret the new regulation in different ways.

“The question is who really wins this besides the companies that are outside the licensing system?”