Swedish regulator slams government over deposit limit database demands

The Swedish Gaming Authority (SGA) has questioned the enforceability of the SEK5,000 a week deposit limit on online casino gameplay, claiming it cannot develop a system to effectively police them. In a report to the Swedish government concerning the Swedish market’s performance during the Covid-19 lockdown, the SGA cited the absence of a current system to police player spend across different licensees sites. The Swedish regulator claimed that players could easily circumvent the deposit limits as a result. “There is currently no register that enables control of how much a player with multiple game accounts at different gaming companies in total have deposited in all gaming accounts,” the SGA report claimed. “It is not possible either to introduce in a short time some type of national register of deposit and loss limits. “Such a register requires a comprehensive investigation and legislative changes. Such a system would include large amounts of sensitive data, both sensitive personal data and data covered by business secrecy,” the Swedish regulator added. Deposit and bonus limits on Swedish players came into force in July, under the umbrella of protecting Swedish players from increased gambling during Covid-19. The measures, which were fiercely criticised by the industry, are set to only run until the end of 2020. The SGA publicly opposed the introduction of the measures, making similar claims to these latest comments earlier this year during the consultation phase, but these fell on deaf ears. Reiterating its prior stance, the SGA has said a “proper analysis and impact assessment” should be conducted to ensure any database developed complies with superseding EU laws. It also said that any database would be required to be mandatory for all Swedish players, unlike the Spelpaus self-exclusion database which is voluntary. “The significant number of registered people and the number of transactions/enquiries will make great demands on such a system. “All gaming companies also need to be provided with the opportunity to adapt their own computer systems to such a system and time to connect the systems,” the SGA report explained. “The Gambling Inspectorate would also, in all probability, need to hire more staff and create an organisation to manage one such system. “It is Spelinspektionen’s opinion that alternative measures should be considered,” the SGA concluded. Earlier this month, Sweden’s Equality Commission recommended in its own report to the Swedish government that all online gambling take place via a centralised, government-monitored platform to “radically improve” regulation of licensees.