Norwegian gambling regulator pauses fines against Kindred – again

Lotteritilsynet has now decided that Kindred’s Trannel subsidiary is not targeting the country.

Norway.- The fines were on and then off and then on again. In the latest update, the Norwegian gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet has announced that it has again paused fines against Kindred, which it had found to be targeting Norwegian players without a licence.

In September, the regulator said it would fine Kindred NOK1.198m (€114,000) per day while it continued to target customers in Norway. However, it put a hold on the fines after Kindred said it would stop targeting the market as a sign of goodwill while it continues to pursue legal challenges against Norway’s monopoly system.

But then last month Lotteritilsynet said it had found that Kindred was still targeting the country. The operator contested that, saying that it had changed the language on its sites from Norwegian to English, removed Norwegian flags from all channels and changed the name of Storspiller to a non-Norwegian word. It also stopped all advertising and marketing in Norwegian and stopped offering Norwegian-speaking customer service.

Lotteritilsynet has now revised its decision and will suspend the fines. It acknowledged that Kindred had adapted its operations to meet the regulator’s demands and that the Norwegian government had clarified that Kindred has the right to continue to passively accept Norwegian customers.

See also: Norway extends Norsk Rikstoto’s exclusive licence for horseracing betting