According to recent reports, some Swedish Government ministers are considering to impose a temporary shutdown of the online casino industry to prevent a possible rise in gambling-related harm that could be inflicted on the local consumers during the Covid-19 crisis.
Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling regulatory body, has revealed that the country’s Government has taken into consideration a number of measures aimed at ensuring better protection from gambling-related harm for local people at a time when they are under social isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, Ardalan Shekarabi, Minister for Social Security, warned that special measures may be taken in case gambling companies do not take voluntary action to make sure their customers are well-protected at a time when online gambling is getting more and more popular among Swedish residents.
According to BonusFinder, an affiliate marketing specialist that analyzed new data provided by the Swedish gambling watchdog, a 33% rise in online casino registrations and logins have been registered by 17 of the 60 online casino license holders in the country over the past two weeks.
The figures have been revealed after BonusFinder found that approximately one-third of Swedish online casino customers were searching for unlicensed gambling operators. The results of the research have clearly shown a trend of an increase in the number of Swedish customers preferring to gamble at offshore websites due to the restrictive regulation of their domestic market.
Gambling industry representatives have not taken well the prospect of the online casino ban.
Stricter Measures Could Only Make Things Worse for Online Gambling Industry
According to Bonus Finder, the shutdown of online casino services that is currently being considered, is likely to fuel massive outflow of players from the Swedish gambling market to offshore, unregulated and black market gambling websites. This, on its turn, would cause even more financial difficulties to the country’s licensed gambling sector.
The managing director of the affiliate marketing firm, Fintan Costello, warned that further restrictions on the online gambling sector during the massive lockdown amid the Covid-19 crisis would be a great mistake, even if it comes to a temporary closures only. Mr. Costello explained that such a measure could result in a massive number of Swedish customers turning their eyes on black markets and reminded that authorized operators are already required to implement strict responsible gaming measures that were there to guarantee that they already have the necessary player protection regulation in place.
According to him, the Swedish Government’s focus should be on ensuring that the already existing measures remain in place and do their job instead of unveiling new ones that would make things harder for an entire sector, and what is worse – push local customers to more dangerous gambling practices with unlicensed and unregulated gambling companies.
