Sweden’s consumer affairs agency has issued a warning to licensed gambling operators regarding terms and conditions. 

Following a study of 13 randomly selected operators, Konsumentverket has issued a reminder to all licensed operators that they are legally obligated to provide customers with balanced and equitable conditions. 

Among the operators examined were AG Communications, Bayton, Blue Star Planet, ComeOn Sweden, Ellmount Gaming, Genesis Global, Interwetten, MOA Gaming Sweden, Pixel Digital, Smarkets, Svenska Spel, Videoslots and Zecure Gaming.

The agency says that it found a number of issues, including withdrawal limitations, ID and authentication requirements, liability disclaimers, contradictory play terms, and undefined promotions. 

Findings have been submitted to the Swedish Gambling Inspectorate (Spelinspektionen) and the Swedish Online Gambling Association (Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS)).

AYO.NEWS says:

As someone with a fair bit of experience of writing promotional terms and conditions for the igaming industry (though not specifically for the Swedish market), I can absolutely confirm that I’ve seen plenty of evidence suggesting a major problem with unfair, unclear, contradictory, and sometimes downright illegal terms and conditions. 

My personal experience is that some operators, even licensed ones, seem to think that regular consumer laws don’t apply to them, and that they should just make T&Cs as complicated and all encompassing as possible – even incorporating things that they have no right to do so. 

At some point, at least in the highly regulated markets like Sweden and the UK, this cavalier attitude is going to bite operators in the butt, hard. Just like with the infamous UK Payment Protection Insurance saga, all it will take is one lawsuit to open the floodgates to an unstoppable torrent of historical claims from players who were subject to unfair terms and conditions. 

And, the most tempting target for law firms must surely be wagering requirements. Of course, every cloud has a silver lining, and the issue also presents a fantastic opportunity for smart operators to differentiate. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.