Sweden’s authorities set gambling responsibilities

The regulatory body in charge of overseeing the gambling industry has clarified supervision responsibilities.

Sweden.- Sweden’s gambling industry has gone through major changes this year, mainly because of a new regulatory framework that took effect on January 1, 2019. As part of that change, Sweden’s gambling regulatory authority the Spelinspektionen and its Consumer Agency are working together and have clarified their responsibilities.

The regulator and its Consumer Agency have been working together since January 1, 2019, and in order to bring clarification for the industry, the two bodies divided their main responsibilities.

The Consumer Agency will be in charge of “moderate marketing”, the direct suspension from playing, age information requirements, a support line and advertising the price of lotteries. On the other hand, the Spelinspektionen will oversee the information of gaming regulations, bonus offers and sponsorship compliance.

“The clarity we achieve with the agreement benefits the supervision as we ensure that important issues do not end up between the two entities,” Spelinspektionen operations chief Patrik Gustavsson explained.

Andreas Prochazka, head of unit at the Konsumentverket, added: “Regardless of whether the consumers turn to the Konsumentverket or the Spelinspektionen with tips or notifications, they know that the case ends up right.”

Spelinspektionen will look into excessive advertising

Furthermore, it was revealed yesterday that the regulatory authority is expecting to set out a new plan to regulate the amount of gambling advertising. The watchdog said that there is currently an intensive debate about advertising and its content. Moreover, the regulator and its Consumer Agency have clarified their responsibilities.

The regulator said that many people have asked about current laws and how moderate advertisement should be and that the term moderate will be clarified in the long term. However, the regulator said that for companies that want to comply with the law, the ambiguity of the word “moderate” should not be a problem.

In several cases, the Swedish Consumer Agency has already taken a position on the issue of what is moderate. For example, in the Swedish Consumer Agency’s lawsuit filing submitted to the Patent and Market Court last December, a number of factors are decisive for the assessment of moderate advertising, said the Spelikspektionen.