BOS, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, has urged the country’s government to reconsider its gaming consumer protection measures following its recommendation against a new deposit cap for online casinos.

This comes on the heels of a declaration that a proposal for a newly introduced deposit limit is approaching, with a motion out for comment ahead of a lengthy implementation period spanning February 7 to June 30, 2022.

Swedish Regulator issues advice

According to Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary-general of BOS, such a move would violate “a cornerstone of Swedish consumer protection in gaming law,” adding that a fragmented market would make it harder for gaming businesses to capture harmful behavior. The association has been vocal in its criticism of a previous SEK 5,000 deposit cap on games at the country’s igaming firms, which was then extended several times throughout the epidemic period and was earlier dubbed worrying and unreasonable by BOS.

However, it is reported that the latest design appears to be similar to the deposit limit that was in effect occasionally throughout 2021/22, with the exception that the maximum has been reduced from SEK 4,000 to SEK 2,000. It is recommended that an equivalent loss limit apply when gambling at state-owned ATMs located outside of a casino. In addition, players should be required to limit their login time for commercial internet gambling and gaming at state-owned ATMs located outside of casinos.

It is recommended that the value of a bonus offered by a licensee that provides commercial online gaming, as well as while playing slot machines in locations other than casinos, be limited to SEK 100. According to the memorandum, the actions “shall be implemented only if considered necessary in light of the current situation.”

Quotes from the Press Release

“As conceived, the system encourages players who wish to play for more money than the proposed limit to open new gaming accounts with new gaming businesses,” Hoffstedt added.

“Before the deposit restrictions were implemented, you could only play with one or two gaming firms; however, since the limits were implemented, we have observed a dramatic growth in the number of gaming companies per individual player.

“As a result, the gaming company’s statutory duty of care, which requires it to develop an overall picture of gaming conduct and offer assistance to high-risk players, is violated.

“When gambling becomes as fragmented as it is with deposit limitations, no single gaming business is able to collect risky gaming activity, and a cornerstone of Swedish consumer protection in the gaming law is lost.”

“We urge the government to reconsider and strengthen consumer protection in Sweden’s gaming industry.”

In October, the Swedish government indicated once again that the temporary gaming prohibitions, which had continuously enraged many sector incumbents, would be lifted in November. The mandates, which began on July 2, 2020, “as a result of the prevailing epidemic,” expired on November 14, 2021, as previously confirmed.

Along with the cessation, the government directed the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, to examine the temporary gaming responsibility measures in order to monitor and analyze how gaming forms and accessibility to the activity evolve in the short and long term.