Svenska Spel fined over unlicensed slot machines
The Swedish gambling operator blamed a “misunderstanding” around the process involved when a venue changes its physical address.
Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has fined the state-run operator Svenska Spel SEK2m (€175,000) for having slot machines at several venues that lacked the correct licence. The slots were found at bingo venues that had changed addresses.
Svenska Spel said the failure occurred due to a “misunderstanding” around the process involved when a venue changes its physical address.
It said: “As of 2019, the licences for bingo were not location-bound. AB Svenska Spel’s view was that the move could be carried out, as the bingo licences were not location-bound, but a notification of a change of address regarding machines would have to be made to the regulator. In light of this, AB Svenska Spel interpreted the situation as meaning that the machines could move to the new address to which a bingo hall moved.”
Svenska Spel said it understood that it had made an incorrect interpretation of how it should report the moving of machines at bingo halls that have a licence that is not location-bound. It added that it was under the impression that only an address change was required and that this could be done via email.
It added: “AB Svenska Spel had talks with the regulator in the fall of 2020 and in September 2023, when nothing emerged that led AB Svenska Spel to make a different interpretation or that a notification about moving host machines must be done in a certain way.”
The operator said that it amended its system after an evaluation in March and had shut down all the machines in question and marked them for removal from the venues in compliance with a request from the regulator.
Last month, Svenska Spel reported that 93.2 per cent of its corporate income in Q2 came from ‘healthy revenues’, as defined under its new safer gambling metrics. Total net gaming revenue reached SEK 1.87bn (€166m).
Alongside Kindred and ATG, Svenska Spel defines healthy revenues as those generated from customers who gamble responsibly and have a low risk of gambling problems. Svenska Spel calculates the figure using its Playscan analysis tool, which classifies customers according to the gambling habits and risk of developing problems. The tool has independent supervision.
Meanwhile, the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has called for the government to carefully consider the potential impact of a proposal to close Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol brand. It says the closure of Sweden’s last land-based casino could harm efforts to tackle unlicensed gambling.
Spelinspektionen says it has no objection to the proposal to close Casino Cosmopol. However, it highlighted police concerns that some land-based casino players could move to illegal gambling. As a result, it says it would need more resources to tackle illegal gambling and to warn players of the changes. Svenska Spel closed two of its three land-based casinos in February.
