Spelinspektionen penalises ATG and Spooniker for breach of restrictions

Sweden’s Gambling Authority, Spelinspektionen, has issued an injunction and fine to AB Trav och Galopp and Spooniker for breaches of the country’s temporary restrictions.

Gaming companies with a Swedish license are obliged to comply with a series of temporary measures in the jurisdiction, which were introduced earlier in the year in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Issuing its latest update, the regulator has found that players at ATG and Spooniker have been able to deposit more than the maximum permitted amount of SEK 5,000 per week on commercial online games.

“The Spelinspektionen combines the injunction with a fine of SEK 1m for each commenced week that the injunction is not complied with, calculated three weeks from the end of the week in which AB Trav och Galopp and Spooniker Ltd take part in the decision,” the Spelinspektionen stated in a media release.

ATG provides games on the atg.se and Sammen.atg.se websites, while Spooniker’s online gaming and betting licence permits activity at bingo.se, mariacasino.se, storspelare.se, unibet.se.

It was added that “players have been able to circumvent the deposit limit of SEK 5,000 per week for games at online casinos. By raising their deposit limit for betting and then, when the money has been deposited in the gaming account, lowering the deposit limit to SEK 5,000 per week or lower, players have been able to play for the full amount at the licensee’s online casino”.

The issue of temporary restrictions in Sweden has drawn the ire of many industry incumbents throughout the year, with Kindred Group recently hitting out at a potential extension of extra restrictions in the market, highlighting a lack of facts and worry that the government’s policy is opposite to that of the country’s Parliament. 

The operator says that Sweden’s government has, seven months after the restrictions were first suggested, not accounted for any facts that support for implementation or presented any findings that support their assumptions.