Swedish court rejects regulator’s appeal over deposit loophole

The Swedish Court of Appeal has rejected the gambling regulator’s appeal in a case against Kindred’s Spooniker brand.

Sweden.- The Swedish Court of Appeal has turned down the national regulator Spelinspektionen’s request to appeal against the quashing of its injunction against Kindred’s Spooniker brand for breaching online casino deposit limits.

Spelinspektionen had fined Spooniker alongside ATG for allowing players to use a loophole to circumvent the country’s temporary SEK5,000 (€476) weekly deposit cap on online casino deposits.

The operators were found to have allowed players to set their own deposit limits, and only granted them access to online casino if they set a limit under SEK5,000.

However, players were able to set higher limits and retain access to sports betting, and then lower their deposit limit below SEK5,000 after depositing funds to regain access to online casino.

ATG accepted the sanction, but Kindred appealed to the Administrative Court in Linköping and won the case. The court found that Sweden’s temporary law refers only to deposit limits for online casino, not their actual deposits.

Spelinspektionen lodged an appeal against the decision, arguing that it effectively rendered Sweden’s deposit limits unenforceable.

It said the court’s decision means the online casino deposit limit would “lose its significance as a consumer protection provision” and allow operators to easily circumvent the limit.

However, the Swedish Court of Appeal has decided it has no grounds to appeal and that the Linköping ruling stands.

Sweden extends online casino deposit limit

The Swedish government has further extended its temporary restrictions on online casino gaming.

The restrictions, including a limit on online casino deposits, were introduced on July 1 last year due to fears that Covid-19 lockdowns would cause a rise in problem gambling. They were due to remain in place for six months, but were subsequently extended until June this year.

Sweden’s minister for social protection Ardalan Shekarabi said: “We see that the spread of covid-19 is still high in Sweden. The current situation entails great risks for consumers in the gaming market. We therefore need to act to reduce the risks for the most vulnerable consumers.”

The temporary controls include a SEK5,000 (€490) monthly deposit limit for online casino slots. Players must also set limits on playing time on both online casinos and gaming machines, and operators cannot offer bonuses of more than SEK100.

The restrictions have been criticised by the industry from the outset. The Swedish online gaming operators’ association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has been a major opponent.

When the government announced its consultation on the extension of the restrictions, BOS CEO Gustaf Hoffstedt said: “It is only the black market that has reason to rejoice at the government’s proposal for continued restrictions for Swedish-licensed gambling companies.”

Swedish gaming revenue up 5% in Q1

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Sweden’s first quarter hit SEK6.25bn (€615.3m). That’s a rise of 5 per cent year-on-year but a decline of 8 per cent from the last quarter of 2020.

Commercial online gambling operators generated SEK3.94bn, up 7.4 per cent year-on-year. State lottery and slot operators brought in SEK1.40bn, up 24 per cent. Revenue from lotteries for public benefit purposes fell 0.3 per cent to SEK858m.

Bingo games for public benefit purposes brought in SEK44m, while restaurant casinos contributed SEK6m, down from SEK52m in the first quarter of 2020.

Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol monopoly on land-based casinos reported no revenue since venues remain closed owing to Covid-19 countermeasures. 

Casinos have been closed since March 2020. In Q1 2020, Casino Cosmopol generated GGR of SEK196m.