Sweden’s Gambling Authority, Spelinspektionen, has penalised horse racing company AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) and Kindred’s Spooniker over deposit cap loophole on their online sites.??
Back in July 2020,?Spelinspektionen?had?announced?their?controversial?new deposit caps?operators were entrusted to abide, valued at SEK5,000/$591/￡439/€488?in bid to?protect?problem gamblers. This was also a?reaction?to the?alleged?surge in?number?of players gambling online as a?result?of the pandemic.??
The Gambling Authority discovered that?players?at ATG?and?Spooniker?could deposit more than the?legal?deposit limit of SEK5,000?per week.?In fact, it is reported that players were able to spend up to SEK50,000 in new?deposits?for a week.?This directly violates the laws place that specifies that operators must “ensure that the limit cannot be exceeded”.?
In a press release,?Spelinspektionen?commented on the situation stating, diving into the course of action in terms of penalty:?
The?Spelinspektionen?combines the injunction with a fine of SEK 1m?(€97,200/$117,700/￡87500)?for each commenced week that the injunction is not complied with, calculated three weeks from the end of the week in which AB?Trav?och?Galopp?and?Spooniker?Ltd take part in the decision,
iGaming Business?state that?ATG?claim?that less than 100 players?went over the deposit limit,?deposited more money to later lower their limit again. ATG also stated that they?have measure in place to?notify?players who show signs of addiction, and will?ultimately?block players after repeated breaches.??
AGT issued a statement arguing:?
To apply the provision in the way that?Spelinspektionen has would be contrary to the principle of legality,
ATG has implemented the provision in accordance with the wording and in accordance with the Government’s memorandum.
Spelinspektionen?shared their?disappointment?stating:?
That fact that ATG has chosen to suspend a number of players who have bypassed the deposit limits in the manner described above do not change the Swedish Gaming Inspectorate’s assessment, but only reinforces the image that the way that ATG has chosen to manage the deposit limit does not fulfill its function,
To many?operators dismay, the deposit restriction has been extended until June 2021. Kindred is one of handful of operators who openly criticised this move.?Despite these restrictions, experts show concerns over the effectiveness of these measures in addressing problem gambling in Sweden.
Article originally appeared on: iGaming Business at https://igamingbusiness.com/atg-and-spooniker-both-fined-by-spelinspektionen-over-deposit-cap-loophole/
SiGMA Europe:
Following the UK’s December 2020 release of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, SiGMA Group will move its February event to April. SiGMA Europe, which will be based in Malta, will now run from 13-15 April, 2021.
