Spelinspektionen To Combat Excessive Advertising in Sweden

The Swedish gambling regulatory body, Spelinspektionen, has made serious plans to take actions which will regulate excessive advertising in the country. As a part of this effort, the regulator has taken further steps in…

…formalizing the cooperation with the national consumer agency, Konsumentverket.

This joining of forces of the two institutions should help in strengthening the efforts to deal with too much advertising.

How Many Ads Are Too Many Ads?

The question of how much advertising is too much still remains unanswered and without a solid definition. At this time, operators such as state-owned Svenska Spel are encouraged to contact the Konsumentverket for guidance on this. As the market matures, this matter will become more apparent and some criteria will be instated.

What comes as a positive side-effect of these new directives is that Sweden's regulator will be able to impose backward sanctions on licensees that have breached the rules prior to regulations. The sanctions can include…

…official warnings, financial penalty, and even license revocation.

As the regulatory body points out in official statement:

“A violation of the requirement of modernization is typically considered to be serious. The sanctions that may be applicable in an individual case depends on several different factors, such as how long the infringement has been going on.”

Konsumentverket To Oversee The Areas Of Moderate Marketing

As for the responsibilities each of these bodies will take on, the consumer agency will also be in charge of direct advertising to self-excluded customers as well as overseeing lottery advertising. In addition to this, the agency will have to collect information…

…about consumers’ age and any viable data from the problem gambling helpline.

Being clear on duties and responsibilities of each of the sides certainly makes it easier for new operators to enter the market. Though some of the rules may sound too strict (even the Swedes are not quite completely up to speed on current regulations), still the situation changes towards a positive outcome.

As a matter of fact, the Swedish market opened numerous possibilities for some well-known providers to implement new payment methods. This definitely makes both withdrawals and deposits considerably cost-effective.

Spelinspektionen Puts Special Focus On Product-Related Marketing

This segment will also include sponsorships as well as bonus offers. As Patrik Gustavsson, Spelinstektionen operations chief explained, it is of vital importance to make sure the key issues do not end up between two entities. That’s why it’s necessary to…

…achieve the clarity with the agreement, which will inevitably benefit the supervision.

Ever since the market was re-launched on January 1st, the institution has issued a series of warnings to license-holders. Those include a variety of issues, with the majority of them…

…ensuring that operators stay in compliance with the country’s regulations.

Some of the licensees fail to comply with self-exclusion measures as well as with regulations regarding bonus offers. As head of the unit at the Konsumentverket, Andreas Prochazka adds:

“Regardless of whether the consumers turn to the Konsumentverket or Spelinspektionen with tips or notifications, they know that the case ends up right.”

Source:

“Swedish regulator to crack down on excessive advertising”, igamingbusiness.com, March 18, 2019.