Swedish Gambling Authority: New deposit limits will reduce channelisation

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has admitted the government’s suggested deposit and bonus limits would reduce channelisation to licensed sites and lower consumer protection standards.

In its consultation response to Swedish government proposals, the SGA questioned the SEK5,000 a week deposit limit threshold, insisting most Swedish players do not gamble to that level.

Qualifying its stance, the SGA cited its own data, which showed the average Swedish gambler gambled just SEK5,072 per person throughout the whole of 2019.

The SGA further stated that between 5%-25% of all Swedish players accounted for between 80-90% of total sales, meaning the larger proportion of players would be unaffected by the proposed changes.

“This means that, in practice, the proposed restriction will only influence the big players who can also be expected to switch to other companies and to unlicensed companies. That way, those who can meet the restriction can continue to play,” wrote the SGA.

“The fact that players change companies can also make it difficult for companies to maintain their duty of care and also the Gaming Inspection’s supervision of that.”

The SGA suggested lower channelisation rates would be one “possible negative effect” of the new rules and questioned whether it would be able to enforce the new laws in such a short space of time.

“It is the opinion of the Gaming Inspection that the possible negative effects of the proposals on the channeling should not be underestimated. Player protection will decrease if higher staking players gamble with unlicensed companies,” the SGA concluded.

Elsewhere, Swedish egaming lawyer Dr Ola Wiklund told EGR the new proposals were unjustified and would have no effect on the stated aim of improving public health.

Wiklund asserted the proposed changes violated not only the Swedish constitution, but EU law as well, in respect of providing gambling-related services without restriction.

“The regulation is likely to be challenged in court. The legal question will be if the deposit restrictions, bonus restrictions and login requirements could have any effect on public health. The burden of proof here lies firmly with the government,” said Wiklund.

“If the government fails to prove this, the regulation will be struck down as a violation of the freedom to provide services in the EU Treaty,” Wiklund added.

Several operators have publicly criticised the proposals, including Kindred Group, LeoVegas and Betsson.