Seven-Figure Fines For Betsson and SkillOnNet Due To Violations Of Swedish Bonus Rules

Betsson’s NGG Nordic subsidiary and PlayOjo operator, SkillOnNet, have violated Swedish bonus restrictions…

… resulting in hefty penalties for each operator.

The breach of regulations was regarding bonus offers to players on multiple occasions by these companies. The legislation, which came into force on January 1, states that each operator in the Swedish online market can offer one bonus per player upon .

A Serious Breach of Swedish Gambling Rules by NGG Nordic

By reviewing the NGG Nordic’s NordicBet site, the country’s gambling regulator Spelinspektionen discovered bonus offers by the company in a range of different forms…

… including weekly surprises, cash prize draws, extra spins, and free games. However, a bigger issue came to surface. According to the report, NGG had been organizing lottery games, something which is not covered by its iGaming and online wagering license.

The regulator said that the operator offered such promotions for as long as four months after the one-bonus restriction came into effect.

After a warning and as a result of repeated violations Spelinspektionen issued a penalty fee of SEK19m (£1.6m/€1.8m/$2.0m)!

Betsson Believes Unclear Regulations the Culprit

According to the statement of its officials, Betsson will appeal the fine. The company believes it was operating compliantly to the Swedish legislation…

… though it has made changes following Spelinspektionen’s intervention.

It argues that the regulation on bonuses are “vague,” and easily interpreted in different ways.

By appealing the fine, the company aims to have the Swedish courts provide guidance on how the bonus restrictions should be interpreted.

SkillOnNet Also Facing Penalties

The operator of multiple PlayOjo, RedKings and SlotsMagic, SkillOnNet, was also offering daily bonuses, monthly rewards, cashback, extra spins and VIP packages across its network, according to the regulator.

It was also found guilty of organizing lotteries online, which its gaming license doesn’t cover. The company was also warned, and eventually fined with an SEK14m penalty fee.

Just Some of Many Fined Companies

Spelinspektionen has a very strict stance towards operators who violate license conditions.

Regarding the bonus rule breach, Betway and Mandalorian Technologies have already been hit with SEK5m and SEK9m penalties respectively for offering more than one bonus to players. The fines for not respecting s’ self-excluding option were also issued to several.

On the other hand, Lottoland was fined SEK700,000 for offering odds of lotteries organized by Svenska Spel.

In related news, Multilotto operator, Multi Brand Gaming has been ordered to remove information on betting on a lottery. Spelinspektionen felt it was not sufficiently clear that it offered betting on lotteries through Multilottoand not the ability to participate in lottery draws.

Following this review, Multi Brand has corrected the information on its website. Therefore, it’s no longer in breach of license requirements.

The gambling market of Sweden has strict rules and even stricter regulator. In order to protect the players, Spelinspektionen goes back and beyond to ensure that all the operators are obliging the regulations.

Source:

“Betsson and SkillOnNet penalised for Swedish bonus violations”, igamingbusiness.com, June 27, 2019.