Spelinspektionen advocates loss limits amid COVID-19 measures report

Spelinspektionen
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Spelinspektionen has endorsed the use of loss limits and restrictions on bonus offers, following an evaluation of COVID-19 enforced measures that were introduced.

The Swedish gambling inspectorate has published its interim report into the impacts of temporary limitations on online betting and gaming during the pandemic, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative.

The temporary gaming responsibility measures, implemented from July 2020 to November 2021, included a SEK 5,000 weekly deposit limit, a requirement to specify a login time for online games and for bonus offers to be limited to a maximum of SEK 100.

However, Spelinspektionen did note that it is “difficult to assess” the true effect of the development, given the varying factors of the temporary regulation, the pandemic and the new gambling regulation which was introduced in 2019.

The report includes the results of a survey which found that 60% of 4,178 respondents supported the temporary measures, whilst a separate Svenska Spel study revealed that 52% of the state operator’s customers were in favour of the provisions.

The Inspectorate affirmed that “the measure in such cases will have the intended effect if the licensees apply their duty of care”, and that if the need for such limits should arise again in the future stricture requirements “may be preferable”.