With Sweden’s proposed new COVID-19 crisis gambling restrictions scheduled to be discussed by lawmakers later this week, opposition from the industry is mounting.
Videoslots argues new rules will be counter-productive
One of Sweden’s biggest licensed online casinos, Videoslots.com, has argued that the sweeping new regulations, which include deposit limits, bonus restrictions, and mandatory play time limits, will push players to unlicensed offshore operators.
With Sweden’s regulated market already one of the strictest in Europe, with bonuses limited to first-time customers, mandatory interaction with players setting a deposit limit of over SEK 10,000, and operators required to check all players against the Spelpaus self-exclusion program, licensed operators fear any further restrictions will make business impossible.
Videoslots has pointed out that further restrictions will likely harm the Swedish government’s stated aim of getting 90% of Swedish online gamblers using Swedish licensed sites, because unlicensed offshore sites will be able to offer much more competitive products.
Commenting on the issue, General Counsel at Videoslots and a former regulator in the Netherlands, Ewout Wierda, said:
“Videoslots agrees with the licensing objectives and has invested a significant amount of time and money in sophisticated systems to keep a risk-based focus on customers who need protection. Player protection is our number one priority.
“We are therefore increasingly worried about the continued decline in the number of Swedish players choosing to place bets with fully licensed operators. We fear that online casino channelization in the country will soon drop below 70%.
“The changes proposed by the Government will take even more players away from the protection of the licensing system. Our player protection can help society cope with the current virus-related risks, but not if those players who need protection most choose black-market operators.
“Enforcement against black-market operators is needed but is not an alternative for the attractiveness of licensed operators. If the Government really wants to increase protection in online casinos, it needs to act quickly and sensibly. We urge them not to hamper us further by introducing counter-productive laws which will have unintended consequences.”
LeoVegas pens open letter to Shekarabi
Meanwhile, last week LeoVegas penned an open letter to Swedish Social Security Minister, Ardalan Shekarabi, the principal cheerleader of the proposed new restrictions, urging him to reconsider, and warning that if players leave, companies will follow suit.
In the letter, LeoVegas said:
“Today, only a year later, it turns out that the “package” that the licensed companies chose to buy and sign onto has changed character completely and thus risks losing all its appeal, benefitting companies that chose to operate on the black market. We must remember that it is the customers who choose where the best product is. In a digital world, that power does not lie with the state, or with us as corporations for that matter.
“We operate in a digital world and have direct access to all the relevant data needed to evaluate what measures can help strengthen our players’ safety and security while still providing attractive offers and products. The sad thing is that the government, with Ardalan Shekarabi at the forefront, does not want to talk to us about how we can work together and, with help from the insights we possess, develop a well-functioning Swedish gambling market. This became especially clear when the Minister, on April 23, proposed new emergency restrictions, proclaiming that, “The Government sees major risks in the gambling sector right now.” But the overall gambling industry (private and state) doesn’t see the same pattern at all. Instead, we see how gambling has diminished compared to what it looked like before the covid-19 crisis struck.”
AYO.NEWS says:
The logic behind the arguments put forward by Videoslots and LeoVegas seems pretty much watertight, but Shekarabi, seems determined to implement the draconian new measures regardless. Indeed, there can be little doubt that Shekarabi is driven by ideology rather than pragmatism, and is merely taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to further his own personal anti-gambling crusade.
Staying with Videoslots, a few weeks ago we reported the Malta-based operator had introduced mandatory loss limits for all UK-based players, for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.
AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.
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