The Gambling Market of Sweden is facing a major change in legislation that would allow overseas companies and organizations to apply for gambling licenses in Sweden. Consumer protection is one of the most vital elements in the new legislation.
The Gambling market in Sweden is divided between the licensed companies in Sweden and the non-Swedish companies that provide gambling services online without holding a license in Sweden. The main question arises on how these companies are responsibly dealing with the prevention of gambling-related negativity and how are they coping with the newer regulations related to the gambling market.
SpelPaus Self Exclusion Creation
The Swedish Gambling Authority has been enforced since the 1st January 2019 and applies to monetary gambling. Gambling markets holding no Swedish licenses are illegal and are prohibited to abet. The gambling market in Sweden has been quite messy over the years. Initially, there was a monopoly market where the state-owned or controlled companies were only allowed to operate.
Because of this fact, many gamblers switched to non Swedish licensed casinos. With the progress of the Gambling Industry as a whole, punters can gamble via offshore operators as well. After a lot of investigations, Riksdag voted in favour of the new Act of 2019, emphasizing customer protection and safety, keeping a check on the negative aspects of Gambling. For more information about casinos without a Swedish license check https://nonstopcasino.org/non-swedish-casinos/.
With this new law, cheating in any form is a punishable offence.
SpelPaus is a self-exclusion scheme that denies access to punters who have chosen a particular period of time of a month, three months, six months, or more for excluding themselves from gambling.
To segregate this furthermore, the entire gambling market has been divided into :
- The competitive part involves the online aspect of betting and gambling. It covers the benefits of gambling which include bingo, lotteries. The government deals with casinos and token machines regarding this.
- Licensed Operators pay around 18% taxes on the profit margins to the Swedish Government. There is an exemption for non-profit purposes.
After the introduction of the New licensing system, the Swedish Gambling authority had set up a self-exclusion scheme termed Spelpaus. All the operators holding a Swedish license must obey it in order to avoid customer exploitation and misuse of the game.
The main advantage of this feature is that you can prevent yourself from gambling in case that you are facing issues with the addiction. That is the most common risk. These games can be quite addictive, and it is a not a rare case that players sometimes spend much more money that they have planned when they started to gamble.
We can notice that many gambling sites started to offer this feature. If you notice that you are having troubles with self-control, which means that you feel the urge to play, or you notice that you are losing too much money, Stop Loss is a great choice.
The SpelPaus can be even better since you can determine the time for a break. On the other side, using the Stop Loss will permanently delete your account and prevent you from registration on that website ever again.
Strong Regulation Of Gambling Related Advertisements
The Swedish Gambling Act tends to focus on a certain degree of moderation while advertising gambling-related content. The operators must be cautious about not exploiting people under 18 in any form. For the self-excluded lot, it is punishable if any gambling-related content is conveyed to them in any form. The prohibition is the same on the online methods of advertising via emails etc.
In spite of enforcing these regulations, the customers were exposed to a certain degree of advertisements having gambling-related content. The Gambling Market Inquiry looked after this issue in order to avoid the promotion of such content. Excluding illegal gambling activities is also a part of their job.
Besides the limitations of promotions, it is essential to pay more attention to less reliable gambling services. You should always check the website before you place your money there. Even if there are licenses available along with other information, always check the developers of the games, so you can be sure that they are not rigged. The most poular developers are Microgaming, Big Time Gaming, Pragmatic, and more.
Marketing Campaigns For SpelPaus
Spelinspektionen had launched a new campaign in order to promote the SpelPaus scheme. The campaign was focused on featuring many messages regarding the issue that was broadcasted across the Swedish television channels. To make the localities aware of this new initiative in order to help the customers, educating the people via campaigns is a great idea.
Promoting the idea of responsible gambling comes via a variety of methods ranging from advertisements, banners to popping up the scheme details while trying to log in for gambling on online casino sites. The Swedish government is increasing awareness among people in order to make this scheme a game-changer in terms of player protection.
Measures Taken by the Gambling Act
In order to promote responsible gambling, licensing system, and regulated advertising, the Act focuses on other measures as well:
- Bonus offers have to be limited to the first gambling instance only
- Match-fixing and cheated in games are punishable to a great deal
- All players must stick to their maximum amount limit in order to educate about gambling and avoid overspending or getting addicted
- There has been an introduction of a panic button for self-exclusion against obsessive gambling
- The Act has tightened the prohibition against credit
- The option for blocking payment transactions between punters and unlicensed operators has been made available
Thus, the Swedish Gambling Authority had every right to order the internet providers for placing warning texts on unlicensed gambling websites.
When it comes to promotions, this is the most common strategy used by gambling sites. You will receive free funds that you can use to play games. However, you should know that there are hidden requirements when get a free credit. You will need to gamble with a particular amount of money to be able to cash out the free funds.
The best way to get the most of this feature is to create a proper strategy. For example, set some limits for the amount of bets in the games, and play only games that you are familiar with.
Moreover, we can notice that a lot of people are using this feature on more than one website. You can get this promotion on any website. Therefore, you can pay $100 to get additional free funds in the same amount, and use only that money to play. That will save you from losses while you can still win a lot.
The importance of introducing clear laws and regulations of this market will decrease the chance of being scammed by unreliable websites.
Conclusion
The main problem related to gambling it that it has become a major public health issue that affects the punters, their families, and society as a whole too. Thus, these recent laws enforced by Sweden are to promote preventive measures and treatment of obsessive gambling. Since this is a part of the public health issue, the direct costs involved are low.
Thus, addressing and focusing on these problems is highly necessary in order to promote gambling as a leisure activity and not a cause for the deterioration of the mental well-being of a person.
The problem is that players easily lose concentration because games are very engaging, attractive, and entertaining. It is not a rare case that some players even stop checking their balance, which is especially a case after winning a higher amount. In that case, you should avoid to continue playing before cashing out at least the part that you lost in previous sessions.
Besides the Spelpaus, the best way to prevent issues is to create a proper strategy for gambling. The key is to set some goals and limits, along with a determined budget that you can spend. If you stick to this plan, there is no way to face any problems with excessive losses.
