Swedish regulator fines two gambling operators amid disagreement over clarity of rules
Both operators argue that the rules for “intrusive” customer intervention are unclear.
Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has issued fines against Glitnor Services and LeoVegas’ Roar Vegas over breaches of their duty of care. Both operators argued that they found the regulator’s requirements for “intrusive” player intervention to be unclear.
In the case of Roar Vegas, the regulator issued a warning and a fine of SEK8m (€737,200) after a supervision check found that the company had not intervened quickly enough to stop the excessive gambling of three customers. Two of the customers were younger gamblers aged 18 to 24. Roar Vegas did eventually intervene, taking effective measures, but the regulator said it should have taken action sooner.
Roar Vegas denied breaching its duty of care, arguing that its actions had functioned adequately and led to a decrease in excessive gambling in all three cases. It also suggested that Spelinspektionen’s guidance on how licensees must fulfil their obligations contained a lack of clarity on when operators should take more intrusive measures.
However, Spelinspektionen noted that the customers identified had played for several days in a row with long login sessions and had lost deposits in a short time after funding their accounts, all of which it views as indicators of problem gambling. Roar Vegas said that since the surveillance check, it has added a new pop-up high deposit limit warning and new guidelines on how to handle high-risk customers. It has also placed a cap on deposit limits and on bets and losses.
In the case of Glitnor Services, it was fined SEK 2.7m after a supervision check found it failed to help 10 out of 12 customers whose gambling was inspected. The customers gambled several times a week, sometimes for many days in a row and for long periods. Spelinspektionen said the measures taken, including sending messages to the customers, had no visible impact, and it identified weaknesses in monitoring and follow-up processes.
Like Roar Vegas, Glitnor said it believed it had not failed its duty of care and that it understood that there was no legal requirement to take more intrusive action, such as suspending player accounts. However, it said it had made changes following the review.
Regarding the suggestions that the rules for intervention are unclear, Spelinspektionen said: “According to rulings from the Administrative Court, it can be considered to follow directly from Chapter 14, Section 1 of the Gambling Act that a licensee has an obligation to take the measures required as soon as necessary to counteract excessive gambling at an individual level.”
Spelinspektionen has reported that in 2024 Swedish gambling revenue rose by 2.65 per cent year-on-year to SEK27.85bn (€2.49bn). Online gambling, including online casino and sports betting, was again the big driver, rising by 5 per cent year-on-year to SEK17.84bn.
Earlier this month, Spelinspektionen issued a formal ban against ASG 360 Services, the operator of GG.bet. The regulator says its investigation found the Cyprus-based operator to be offering gambling in Sweden without a local licence. Research published by the Swedish horse racing betting operator ATG last week suggested that GG.bet was the fifth most popular unlicensed gambling site in Sweden in the last quarter of 2024.
