Sweden proposes to extend the COVID-19 deposit ceiling to November

The Swedish government has made proposals to expand new restrictions for the Covid-19 in the country's online gambling industry, including a deposit limit of 5000 sec, to November 14.

The measures were implemented in July last year, and although the regulations were only intended to last until the end of 2020, they have been expanded on several occasions, the last until June 2021.

But with concern about the current high Covid-19 spread in the country, the government has proposed to keep the restrictions this winter.

“We see that the spread of Covid-19 is still high in Sweden. The current situation poses great risks for consumers in the gaming market, ”said Swedish Social Insurance Minister Ardalan Shekarabi.

We must therefore act to reduce the risk of the most vulnerable consumers.

Apart from the monthly deposit limit of 5000 sec, the memorandum includes the government, including measures that make it compulsory for players to set limits on playing time with online casinos and slot machines.

Operators can also only offer bonuses of up to sec 100 for both online casinos and slot machines according to current rules.

The proposed note will be open for consultation until May 3.

Encounter resistance

However, the Swedish Branscheforenigen för OnlineSpel (BOS) has opposed the proposals, with its leader Gustaf Hoffstedt, who says that any expansion will lead to a larger stream of consumers to unlicensed operators.

Last week Found a report from Sweden's Treasury that 85 % of the gambling in the country during 2020 was with operators licensed in Sweden, a reduction from the reported figure in 2019.

"The government seems unaware that their own expert authority, the Swedish public administration agency, just over a week ago stated that the leak from the Swedish gaming market to the unregulated gaming market is disturbingly high," Hoffstedt said.

“The leakage for online casinos is particularly high, where as much as every four krone is played outside the Swedish licensed market. Expanding restrictions that are not approved by gaming consumers is to request continued problems for the channeling of the licensed market when it comes to online casinos. ”

Hoffstedt said that any regulations that can lead to more leakage of players to such unregulated websites jeopardize players' safety, with these operators who do not offer the same protection as Licensed sites.

"It is provocative that the Swedish government in a rhetoric about the care of the consumer, in practice does the opposite and damages the Swedish gaming license market with its strong consumer protection," Hoffstedt said.