Swedish gaming regulator will not appeal Betsson penalty decision

The Swedish gambling regulator has decided not to appeal against a court’s decision to quash its penalty against Betsson Nordic.

Sweden.- The national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has said that it will not appeal against a court decision to quash a SEK20m (€2m) penalty that it issued against Betsson Nordic last year.

The Administrative Court in Linköping found that Spelinspektionen had no grounds to penalise Betsson for the sale of vouchers at convenience stores.

Spelinspektionen had claimed that by selling top-up vouchers at Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven stores, Betsson had provided services through unregistered gaming agents in breach of Sweden’s Gaming Act.

It also said that benefits offered to Betsson Mastercard holders constituted unauthorised bonuses. 

However, the court ruled against the regulator in both cases. It said that the sale of vouchers did not equate to supplying games via unregistered agents, and that there were no grounds to claim that Betsson received illegitimate payments.

It also decided that the benefits offered through the Betsson Mastercard did not count as bonuses.

The decision comes after a series of legal defeats for the Swedish gaming regulator.

Last week, Spelinspektionen appealed against a decision from the Court of Appeal to reduce by more than half the penalties it had issued to Genesis Global and Aspire Global’s AG Communications.

Lodging an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court, it said that the court’s decision was of “decisive importance” to its power to issue appropriate penalties against gaming operators that breach regulations.

See also: Court slashes another fine issued by Swedish gambling regulator