Sweden to limit weekly bonus offers to just £8

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden’s government unveiled a set of proposals to limit gamblers’ possible exposure to harm.  Health and Social Affairs Minister Ardalan Shekarabi has proposed a SEK5,000 (£400) as a maximum weekly deposit and a weekly SEK100 (£8) cap on bonus offers!

The proposals will be up for public discussion until May 7 and will take force on June 1 with an expiration date at the end of 2020.

Shekarabi also said the Government is planning to introduce mandatory limits on playing time, while it is also looking into return-to-player (RTP) restrictions. The restrictions will also apply to video lottery terminals (VLTs). Sweden took some relatively relaxed restrictions on social activity during the virus meaning and many land-based gaming facilities remain still open.

Spelinspektionen general director Camilla Rosenberg applauded Shekarabi’s announcement, saying it gave the regulator “an even clearer focus on gaming responsibility and the fight against illegal gambling.” Rosenberg said Spelinspektionen would “make immediate adjustments … to meet the new demands.”

The European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) issued a statement saying the new restrictions “could do more harm to consumer protection than actually provide help to those who might need it.” The new curbs “are not targeted, but could rather encourage customers to play with” internationally licensed sites over which Sweden has no authority (and which customers are already looking for).

EGBA boss Maarten Haijer noted that Sweden’s gambling advertising spending was on the decline and the EGBA had yet to see “evidence that average customer spend is up.” Haijer also claimed there was “no compelling evidence that arbitrary restrictions on customer spend have a positive effect on safer gambling,” although studies have shown that spending/deposit limits can help the highest-spending problem gamblers.