EGBA unhappy with newly proposed iGaming regulations in Sweden

Added: December 16, 2020

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has claimed that Sweden’s regulated market will be put at risk because of the newly proposed iGaming controls and regulations.

Sweden has seen already seen some major responsible gambling-related changes throughout this year, with login limits and restrictions on welcome bonuses all extended until June 2021. Additionally, Sweden’s Gambling Market Commission (Spelmarknadsutredningen) has also advised that adding constraints on advertising will improve player protection. On the other hand, in a report on their website, the EGBA believe that the latest proposed measures could end up causing a much higher level of risk.

“EGBA is concerned that the frequency and scope of regulatory changes in Sweden jeopardizes the overall success of the country’s online gambling regulation and its ability to provide Swedes with a safe, attractive and regulated online environment where they can bet.”

This is why there have been concerns voiced surrounding the fact that if these new regulations pass, then the government risks pushing local punters towards the black market, further harming their safety as well as the country’s successful online gambling regulation. To put the situation into context, the imposed restriction on deposit limits has good intentions, but will more than likely draw customers towards unregulated markets since it will allow them to avoid these limits.

Sweden has been seeing a high number of proposed changes to their regulations and though the EGBA stands with well-regulated online gambling markets, the constant pressure to change a regulation (which was initiated less than two years ago) has created instability for the country’s licenced companies.

“EGBA members, including BOS, accept their shared responsibility to protect customers, and we are continuously considering what we can do more, but, fundamentally, the best way to protect customers is to ensure they play inside the regulated market with companies who are licensed in and apply the consumer protection laws in Sweden. The cumulative effect of more restrictions on the Swedish market will be less channelling and more unregulated black market gambling. Despite being well-intentioned, this would be clearly counter-productive and will damage the safety of the consumer.” Said Secretary General of the EGBA, Maarten Haijer.

Furthermore, EGBA also focused on a survey, which was commissioned by Spelinspektionen, and ended up finding that Swedish players struggled to identify differences between a licenced and unlicenced market, with only 5% aware of the different ways to check whether an online gambling site is licenced or not.

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