The Swedish government has taken steps to introduce a deposit limit for online casino operators, with the weekly amount set to be lowered from SEK 5,000 to SEK 4,000.
Although acknowledging that the design for the limits is set to be the same as the model adopted during 2021, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has maintained criticism of the political proposals.
The proposed changes are now out for consultation, with a potential start date for this period on 7 February and an end date on 30 June, and were put forward by the country’s Ardalan Shekarabi, the governmental Health Minister who has long been at loggerheads with the gambling space.
A deposit limit of SEK 5,000 was first implemented on 1 June, along with an SEK 100 cap on bonus offers, in the midst of the country’s national COVID-19 lockdown which the aforementioned Minister believed created a ‘dangerous cocktail’ increasing the risk of gambling addiction.
Commenting on lowering the spend limits to SEK 4,000 Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General, stated: “As the system is designed, it leads to players who want to play for more money than the proposed limit to start up new gaming accounts with new gaming companies.
“Before the deposit limits, you played with one or two gaming companies, but after the introduction of the limits, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of gaming companies per individual player.
“Thus, the statutory duty of care, which aims for the gaming company to acquire an overall picture of gaming behavior and offer support to risk players, is lost.”
