Autoplay and reverse withdrawals to be banned in Sweden
Updated responsible gaming legislation encompassing a wide range of sectors were published by Svenska Spel Spelinspektionen.
A prohibition on the autoplay function for slot machines will be a crucial part of the regulations. This holds true regardless of whether the number of spins is defined or not.
Great Britain and Ontario are among the markets that have outright forbidden autoplay.
Additionally, players will no longer be able to use reverse withdrawals, a feature that allows them to cancel a transaction before the cash actually reach their bank account.
Spelinspektonen warned that these two regulations might divide the gaming community and urged operators to inform players of the upcoming changes before implementing them.
Players who utilise these features may react to their removal, so it's important to let them know that the change is happening. These features are dangerous and can be associated with problem gambling, according to the statement.
Another point made by the regulation is that licensees are no longer allowed to offer players advice regarding their deposit, loss, or time constraints.
And now, gamers are either prompted to log out or offered the option to stay hooked in if they're inactive for more than two minutes on a gaming site.
Meantime, there will be a broader emphasis on employee training on responsible gambling issues. Other parts of the training regulations were revised to adequately define the necessary emphasis on subjects like game design, and training is now needed to address the effects of destructive gambling on loved ones as well.
Licensees' work with gaming responsibilities will be simplified by clarifying regulations, while the proposed amendments aim to increase player protection, according to Spelinspektionen.
Players should also be able to talk to operators, and operators should display the Spelpaus emblem, which is a self-exclusion method.
In addition to requiring operators to disclose players' yearly losses upon login, Spelinspektionen has introduced an extra criterion for retail slots at non-casino locations. Now that these characters have appeared on the screen, players need to verify that they are still willing to play.
Additionally, operators will now have to publish how many players surpass their time or deposit restrictions, as well as how many players have deposit limits above SEK10,000 (£813/€929/$928) per month. The amount of players who have come back from self-exclusion is another metric that operators are required to provide.
The new administration
The announcement of the results of Sweden's incredibly tight election came just days before the new regulations were published. In the end, the Riksdag was controlled by a coalition leaning to the right, with the Moderate Party at the helm and the Sweden Democrats providing support. The margin of victory was three seats.
Swedish trade group Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel (BOS) secretary general and former Riksdag member of the Moderate Party Gustaf Hoffstedt told iGB that the industry would welcome a new administration before the final results were released.
He pointed out that the incoming government has backed more market-friendly policies, like reducing the size of the state-owned Svenska Spel and loosening the country's stringent bonus restrictions.
He also pointed out that the new government might be less inclined to embrace new marketing regulations.
