Responsible Gambling
ListenA starting point for the regulation of gambling in Sweden is that the negative consequences of gambling should be counteracted and that gambling problems must be taken seriously. This is important, due to that the consequences for people who lose control of their gambling can be serious and can give rise to social problems, health issues and/or financial harm.
Licence holders need to take social responsibility into consideration by implementing a range of forms of measures to ensure responsible gambling, with the goal of discouraging excessive gambling. Basic measures within the framework of Responsible Gambling can be found in Chapter 14 of the Swedish Gambling Act (2018:1138, Chapter 11 of the Swedish Gambling Ordinance (2018:1475) and in the Swedish Gambling Authority (Lotteriinspektionen) Regulations and General Guidelines on Responsible Gambling (LIFS 2018:2).
Here are some examples of social responsibility measures for responsible gambling that are found in the Swedish Gambling Act:
- Self-Imposed Gambling Limits: Licensees must provide the possibility for gamblers to limit or suspend themselves from gambling. The Swedish Gambling Authority holds the responsibility for the suspension registry Spelpaus.se, where it is possible to suspend oneself from all registered gambling.
- Minimum Age: Persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to gamble and anyone under the age of 20 is not allowed to enter Casino Cosmopol.
- Prohibition on Offering Credit: Licensees are not permitted to provide credit nor to imply such is on offer
- Bonus Offers: Licensees are not permitted provide bonus offers (nor to imply such is on offer), other than at the first time the gambler participates in gambling with them.
- Social Responsibility: The licence holder must ensure that social and health considerations are observed in its gambling operations. The licensee must counteract excessive gambling and help gamblers reduce their gambling when there is reason to do so. Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority has produced a guide with examples of how signs of excessive gambling can be identified and what measures the Swedish Gambling Authority expects the licensee to take when gamblers show signs of excessive gambling.