Sweden’s Administrative Court upholds ComeOn fines for bonus breaches

Four ComeOn brands were fined for breaching Sweden’s bonus regulations for online gaming.

Sweden.- The Linköping Administrative Court has maintained three fines and reduced a fourth in an appeal launched by online gaming operator ComeOn. The operator received four fines from the gaming regulator Spelinspektionen for breaching Sweden’s bonus rules, while restrict operators to offering bonuses on signup only.

Spelinspektionen had fined ComeOn’s Casinostugan SEK25m (€2.49m) fee, ComeOn Sweden SEK35m penalty fee, Hajper Ltd SEK50m and Snabbare Ltd SEK65m for offering bonuses to players who already had accounts.

Casinstugan had given an example player SEK21,000 in bonuses along with free spins and ComeOn gave a sample player SEK40,000 in bonuses. Hajper gave one player SEK7,400 in bonuses plus free bets and another SEK13,500 and free spins. Snabbare, which received the largest fine, gave a customer SEK6,950 in bonues and gave free spins to another.

The Administrative Court maintained three of the four fines at their original levels, only reducing that issued to Hajper. It reduced the fine from SEK50m to SEK40m.

It said: “The court also considers that the companies breached their duty of care by providing bonuses at the same time as there were indications of risky gambling.”

Swedish treasury recommends tougher controls on gambling affiliates 

Last month, The Swedish Treasury called for tougher controls on affiliates after its report on the regulated gaming market found channelisation lagging behind the country’s target.

The report looked at various aspects of gaming in Sweden following the introduction of regulation for online gambling in 2019. Looking at how much play takes place with licensed operators, it found that channelisation to legal offerings increased from 50 per cent in 2018 to 88 per cent in 2019, 85 per cent in 2020 and 87 per cent in 2021. However, those figures all remain below the target figure of 90 per cent.