The Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) has chastised two locally licensed online gambling operators for sending promotional materials to self-excluded customers across various communication channels.
The consumer protection authority said Tuesday that it has warned Mr Green and Karl Casino to stop reaching out to self-excluded gamblers with offers that can lure them back into playing online casino games or betting on sports.
Sweden launched early this year an industrywide self-exclusion register as part of the reorganization of the Scandinavian nation’s online gambling market. The Spelpaus service enables customers to bar themselves from gambling with all locally licensed operators for a period of time of their choice. This means that they will not be able to access gambling websites and place wagers with those.
Under the terms of their licenses from the Swedish Gambling Authority, Spelinspektionen, gambling operators must ensure that self-excluded customers are not being sent any promotional materials while they are trying to rein in their appetite for gambling.
In a statement on its official website, the KO urged Mr Green and Karl Casino to stop sending promotional materials to self-excluded gamblers and warned them that they would face heavy penalties if caught to be violating Swedish regulations again.
The two companies were issued injunctions by the consumer protection agency and were informed that each of them could be imposed a SEK2 million (approx. $208,000) fine for any future breaches.
Violations Discovered with KO Investigations
The KO conducted an investigation into Mr Green’s activities in Sweden in July. The agency found that the operator, which was recently acquired by British bookmaker William Hill, had contacted self-excluded customers via direct mail and email.
The company blamed its breach of rules on issues with the mapping of information between its customer database and its mailing platform. Mr Green told the KO that it has addressed the issues and that it would no longer contact gamblers who have opted to register with Spelpaus.
Karl Casino, which is owned by Malta-based online gambling operator L&L Europe, was probed by the consumer watchdog in June. In response to the KO scolding, L&L Europe highlighted several instances of when it had sent marketing materials to self-excluded players.
In the first such instance, it had reached out to two customers who had not provided their personal ID numbers when opening an account with Karl Casino. The company said that it has addressed the matter by adding a code that automatically filters out players who do not provide an ID number.
In two other instances, promotional materials had been sent by a third-party partner of the operator. L&L informed the KO that it has parted ways with that partner.
Commenting on the KO’s recent actions, Johanna Nyblom, process counsel at the agency, said that “the law is very clear on this point” and that “the idea is that players who want to pause or stop playing should be completely protected from direct calls to play and from getting advertising directly on their mobile devices or via email.”
Source: Spelbolag skickade reklam till spelavstängda
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