Finland has become the latest country to introduce additional online gambling restrictions in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

From 1 May, all eBingo, virtual betting, online slots, and table games (excluding poker), will be subject to a monthly loss limit of €500. The daily loss limit has also been halved from €1,000 to €500.

The state-owned gambling monopoly operator, Veikkaus, will also be suspending lottery draws.

According to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, the new restrictions will last for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, and possibly even after the virus threat lowers, and are intended to reduce the potential for gambling harm during a time when consumers are more likely to be experiencing financial difficulties.

Veikkaus says it has made the required technical changes and will be ready to comply with the limits from 1 May. However, the restrictions will add further pressure to the operator, which says it has already lost around €60m in revenue since the start of the crisis.

Interestingly, Veikkaus says that since the crisis forced the closure of its retail operations, it hasn’t seen much migration to its online casino, with revenue there only rising by €1.5m. The company has also said it will be furloughing the majority of its retail staff.

AYO.NEWS says:

We wonder if Veikkaus hasn’t witnessed a migration to its online casino because customers are preferring to use unlicensed offshore operators, or if those still using retail facilities are older and probably never likely to migrate online?

One thing is for sure, with the COVID-19 crisis likely to consist of multiple waves and last many months, if not a year or more, we can expect to see many more countries introduce strict measures or bans.

Last week Sweden announced ‘extraordinary measures’ including deposit, bonus and session limits, while Belgium, Estonia, Spain and Portugal have also introduced extra restrictions, and regulators in the UK and Malta have warned operators to be on their best behaviour.

Earlier this week, members of the UK’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which includes Flutter Entertainment, Bet365, GVC, William Hill, Betfred and Rank Group, unilaterally halted all television and radio advertising in an attempt to pre-empt regulatory action.

Also, today we reported that the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has published its first pan-European code of conduct for responsible online gambling advertising – again, probably an attempt convince regulators they don’t need to take further action.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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