BOS calls on Swedish Government to rethink deposit limit change

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has criticised the Government’s proposed change to deposit limits at online casinos.

Sweden’s Minister for Social Security Ardalan Shekarabi said a proposal that would lower players’ weekly deposit limit from SEK 5,000 ($548.76) to SEK 4,000 is imminent.

But the BOS has come out against the move and called on the government to rethink its proposal. Gustaf Hoffstedt, the Trade Association’s Secretary General, said the new limit will only encourage players to create accounts with more operators, making it harder to monitor their behaviour.

“As the system is designed, it leads to players — who want to play for more money than the proposed limit — setting up new gaming accounts with new gaming companies,” remarked Hoffstedt.

“Before the deposit limits, you played with one or two gaming companies, but after the introduction of the limits, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of gaming companies per individual player.

“Thus, the statutory duty of care, which aims for the gaming company to acquire an overall picture of gaming behaviour and offer support to at-risk players, is lost.”

The BOS has been critical of Shekarabi in the past. In June 2021, the Trade Association lambasted the Minister’s “unfounded” claim that there was an increase in online gambling during the pandemic, which was used to justify temporary restrictions.

Regarding this latest proposal, Hoffstedt added: “When gambling becomes as fragmented as it becomes with deposit limits, no individual gaming company can capture risky gaming behaviour, and thus a cornerstone of Swedish consumer protection in the gaming law is lost.”