Spelinspektionen appeals Svenska Spel SEK100 million penalty ruling

Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has launched an appeal over a court ruling that saw a SEK100 million (€9 million) penalty issued to the Svenska Spel Sport & Casino digital arm of the state-owned operator for a series of failings overturned.

Spelinspektionen lodged its appeal with the Court of Appeal on Wednesday this week. It said the decision from the Administrative Court in Linköping conflicts with earlier court rulings.

The case dates to March 2024 when Spelinspektionen issued Svenska Spel with a warning and penalty over its conduct. This related to duty of care and breaches of the 2019 Gambling Act, with the regulator flagging failures found during an investigation that ran from October to December 2021.

Key issues noted included Svenska Spel not taking sufficient measures to protect players against excessive gambling. Spelinspektionen singled out 10 players who lost the most money during the supervision period.

However, earlier in June, Svenska Spel successfully appealed against the ruling. While the court ruled the customers in question presented evidence of excessive gambling, it said Spelinspektionen did not show Svenska Spel had failed to comply with its duty of care responsibilities in a way that required regulatory intervention.

Svenska Spel also hit out at a lack of clarity over duty of care rules in Sweden. It added the penalty was “disproportionate in relation to the shortcomings” flagged by the regulator.

Regulator hits back over Svenska Spel appeal ruling

Now launching its own appeal over the case, Spelinspektionen said the Administrative Court decision conflicts not only with previous court rulings but also its own assessment of the scope of the duty of care.

The regulator said the Administrative Court judgment “incorrectly assumed” duty of care requirements in the act lack clarity. Spelinspektionen said the provision places “clear” expectations on operators that hold a licence in Sweden.

“All licensees must promptly take active measures to protect players against excessive gambling,” Spelinspektionen said. “Licensees must also continuously monitor extensive gambling and, if necessary, take measures at the same pace as the gambling occurs.

“A licensee must also voluntarily limit gambling to counteract the damage that excessive gambling can cause.”

Svenska Spel did not take ‘necessary’ measures

Looking to the 10 customers highlighted in its initial assessment, Spelinspektionen said some lost significant amounts. During a two-month period, individual player losses ranged from SEK260,000 to SEK600,000.

The regulator added that one of the noted players was a younger person, while in several cases, losses corresponded to a large part of the customer’s taxable annual income

“Svenska Spel’s measures have mainly consisted of warnings and informative messages,” the regulator said. “We believe Svenska Spel Sport & Casino has neither continuously followed up on the customers it has reviewed nor taken necessary and individualised measures to limit their gambling.

“We believe the Administrative Court has assessed Svenska Spel in a completely different way than other sanctioned licensees. As such, we are appealing the Administrative Court ruling to the Court of Appeal.”

Svenska Spel is yet to comment on the regulator’s appeal.