An open letter has been sent to the Swedish Minister of Finance by the country’s trade association for igaming, the BOS, calling for the easing of restrictions on the gambling market.
Plans by the minister have been dubbed unrealistic and the interested parties have claimed that the intentions do no more than play into the hands of the unlicensed gambling operators.
Intervention by the Ministry for Public Administration to make changes to the plans, says the association, do no more than improve the project in favour of the state-owned companies. A fresh report now issued would indicate that the introduction of deposit limits on online casinos would mean that nearly half of all bets would be redirected to unlicensed operators, says the open letter.
“The entire Swedish gambling industry has been beset with uncertainty, with many customers abandoning licensed companies and moving instead to unlicensed operators. If we don’t start to co-operate and introduce long-term measures grounded in facts, we risk turning back the clock to what the market looked like prior to re-regulation.”
Independent research company Copenhagen Economics published a report on how deposit limits would affect online casinos. Based on turnover data, consumer surveys, interviews and international research, the report concluded that deposit limits would reduce the ‘channelisation’ of online casinos from 75 per cent as it is at present, with licensed sites, to 52-63 per cent. Almost half of all bets would be made with the unlicensed market.
There has been no evidence to suggest that gambling in general, or play on online casinos, has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a point already made by the government-controlled agency for the gambling industry.
“We share the government’s view that protection for and of players is of the utmost importance. We agree that this work must continue and that together we can create a sustainable gambling market with strong consumer protections, but the world must be based on facts.”
The association seeks to expand licensing requirements, raise awareness of self-exclusion, encourage the authorities make more use of the gambling companies’ own data, share data between companies, track addictive and unhealthy playing practices, extend the Swedish gambling authority’s mandate to ensure the integrity of the licensing system, and extend the duty of care to more industries.
The open letter has been signed by the senior managers of Betsson, Kindred, LeoVegas, NetEnt, William Hill, ComeOn, Videoslots, Hero Gaming, SuprNation and the BOS secretary general.
