Svenska Spel has had a SEK100m (£7.7m) fine overturned after a court ruled there was a “lack of clarity” in the Swedish gambling regulator’s rules around duty of care.
The gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, handed the operator the fine in March 2024 for not acting sufficiently or proactively in relation to 10 customers who showed potentially problematic gambling behaviour.
The regulator said the company failed to follow up on implemented measures and did not take necessary, personalised actions in time.
However, in its appeal, Svenska Spel insisted that it had continuously monitored customers’ gambling behaviour and adequately responded to signs of problem gambling.
But key to the company’s argument was that there was a lack of clear regulatory guidelines on exactly what measures should be taken and when to fulfil the obligation of duty of care.
Publishing its ruling on the case, the Administrative Court in Linköping agreed with Svenska Spel’s argument, concluding that any warning or fine must be based on the “principal of legality.”
“Violations of gambling responsibility regulations can only result in sanctions if it is sufficiently clear what a license holder is required to do to avoid penalties and that they have failed to do so,” the court said.
The court agreed with Spelinspektionen that the customers in question had shown signs of problem gambling, but it also noted that Svenska Spel had taken sufficient actions to help those customers amid a lack of clear, defined provisions from the regulator about duty of care.
“It is gratifying that the Administrative Court has granted our appeal and overturned Spelinspektionen’s decision,” said Fredrik Wastenson, CEO and head of business area at Svenska Spel
“We appealed because we believe the sanction fee was disproportionate to the shortcomings and because there is a need for greater clarity in the interpretation of the duty of care.
“We argue that an authority may only take actions that are supported by the legal system – the so-called principle of legality – which the court has also confirmed.”
The case keeps Sweden’s gambling regulation in the spotlight, after the government earlier this year agreed to look into a loophole that trade association BOS said was aiding illegal operators.
