Spelinspektionen slaps fines on two of its licensees for failures to follow bonus offers rules under Sweden’s new regulatory regime
The Swedish gambling regulator has imposed fines on gambling operators Betway and Mandalorian Technologies for breaching the bonus offers restrictions set out in Sweden’s new gambling law, Spelinspektionen itself announced Thursday on its official website.
Betway, which operates the Betway.se website under a license from Spelinspektionen, was slapped with a SEK5 million fine (approx. $518,500), while Mandalorian got a SEK9 million fine (approx. $933,300) for their failures to comply with Sweden’s newly implemented gambling regulations. Mandalorian operates the NoAccountCasino.com and PrankCasino.com websites in Sweden.
Aside from the hefty fines, the two operators were also warned by Spelinspektionen that further violations of the rules would be punished more severely.
Both Betway and Mandalorian were found to have offered bonuses to customers on multiple occasions, despite the existing restrictions on such incentives. Under Sweden’s gambling law, which took effect on January 1, 2019, licensed gambling operators are only allowed to treat customers to a single bonus when they gamble on their websites for the first time. Betway and Mandalorian have apparently continued offering such incentives to existing customers.
Previous Warnings
Back in February, Spelinspektionen sent out a warning to all its licensees to stick to the bonus offers rules or otherwise face heavy penalties. The regulator also noted that repeated violations could even result in licenses being revoked.
In a letter to all companies operating in Sweden’s recently reorganized online gambling space, Spelinspektionen said that it had been informed about multiple incidents of gambling websites offering bonuses and related incentives beyond what had been allowed, and that it would take further measures against such violations.
There have been opinions from industry stakeholders that Sweden’s new gambling law does not provide explicit enough explanations on what bonus offers include. However, Spelinspektionen pointed out in its letter to licensees that that was not the case.
Under Sweden’s gambling law, bonus offers include all discount offers, cashback promotions, and related incentives customers are treated to. All these can be offered to gamblers only the first time they place money with a licensed Sweden-facing operator.
Swedish regulators and lawmakers have said that the introduction of restrictions on bonus offers aims to reduce the negative effects of gambling, including potential social and economic damages and problem gambling.
As part of its efforts to reduce the risks associated with gambling, Sweden is also mulling a blanket ban or at least a partial ban on all forms of gambling advertising. The country’s Minister for Public Administration Ardalan Shekarabi has recently ordered a thorough review of the existing gambling advertising codes and has said that based on that review the Swedish government will adopt measures that could include a total ban on adverts.
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