Prominent iGaming operator Kindred Group has signalled its displeasure with a proposal from the Swedish government that would reintroduce a series of temporary online gaming restrictions including an about $437 weekly video slot deposit limit.
The Stockholm-headquartered firm used an official Wednesday press release to detail that the previous set of similar restrictions were instituted from June of 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and only ended on November 14. The company declared that it believes the full restoration of these rules would be ‘ill-founded’ and not in keeping with ‘the criteria of evidence-based policymaking.’
Unintentional upshots:
Kindred Group stated that the temporary reintroduction of these controls, which could moreover encompass login time limits and retail loss limits, may have the unintended consequence of ‘weakening rather than strengthening consumer protections’ and simultaneously obstructing its duty of care obligations and ‘impact channelization negatively.’ Responsible for a plethora of mobile-friendly iGaming domains including 32Red.com, Bingo.com and MariaCasino.com, the firm disclosed that it is also not keen on the implementation of an envisioned rule that would establish a limit of around $11 for all online bonus offers.
“While it is our opinion that the government’s response to the pandemic has in general been pragmatic and enabled Swedish society to be as open as possible, the restrictions on the online gambling industry have been ill-founded and do not meet the criteria of evidence-based policymaking. The minister in charge, Ardalan Shekarabi, even got reprimanded by the Swedish Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution for groundlessly claiming that gambling at online casinos had increased during the pandemic.”
Damning determination:
Kindred Group pronounced that it has made this official opinion known in writing that the government of Sweden should ‘not move ahead with the proposals.’ The operator furthermore asserted that it has so far failed ‘to find anything affirmative to ascribe’ to the suggested range of new iGaming restrictions as they do not rely on ‘explicit facts and concrete evidence.’
“Our main objections to the measures are that they will make it more difficult for licensed gambling companies to fulfil their duty of care and will have a negative impact on channelling by encouraging gambling with unlicensed operators. A requirement to introduce added measures such as a 96-hour lock out-rule on top of previously implemented measures within a very short time frame risks leading to a low-quality implementation of the measures and a random distortion of competition in the Swedish gambling market.”
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