Gambling Inspection of Sweeden

Gambling Inspection of Sweeden (Spelinspektionen) was established on 1 January 2019. Earlier the organization was called inspection of lotteries. Currently, the Commission is engaged in the issuance of licenses for gambling, explores the market of gambling services in the country and the world, and informs the government about it. It protects the interests of consumers and reduces the social harm from gambling. The main objective of the organization is to create a safe and controlled gambling market.

Regulator licensed casinos

On the official website in the section "Spelbolag med spellicens" players can see the entire list of casinos licensed by the Commission of Sweden. Also, this section provides information about violations of the operator and penalties applied. Currently, gambling licenses in Sweden have the following websites: karamba, vikingslots, bethard, betsson, bwin, and others.

Spelinspektionen review

In Sweden, as in many other European countries, gambling has existed for a long time, and its regulation control has a rich history. It all began around the 1930s when the gambling industry in the country began to develop rapidly, which required state control. Several Inspections have been established. Since 1940, the game for money and lotteries were completely nationalized, that is, came under the control of the state.

In 1983, a single gambling control body, the Swedish Lottery Board, was established. With the development of the market, it was necessary to develop legislation, thus, with a number of changes in 1995, a new organization – the inspection of lotteries.

It is worth noting that the state regulation in the country has always existed perfectly changes in the industry, which led to the emergence of new standards of Inspection.

After numerous studies, in 2017 were presented a bill to amend the legislation that in 2019 led to the creation of the modern organization – Gambling Inspection of Sweeden (Spelinspektionen).

Almost immediately the organization was presented with a service Spelpaus.se, by which players can self-exclude from gambling at online casinos. The licensed operator is required to verify the player in this service, otherwise, the player will be required to return all his deposits in the event of a complaint against the operator.

The company may also be fined 10% of its monthly turnover. As of the beginning of 2019, more than 10,000 players are registered in this registry.

Objectives of the Swedish Gaming Commission:

• Creation of a safe and regulated gambling market in the country
• Combating illegal gambling
• Social protection of citizens

The organization's activities are very extensive, it recently joined the Committee to combat match-fixing. The Commission severely punishes operators for the slightest violations, for example, in July 2019, eight companies were fined at once, including Bet365, PokerStars, Rizk, and others, in the amount of more than 1 million us dollars.

The reason - rates on a contest where participants not have reached 18 years. In fairness, we note that the law describes it quite vaguely.
In general, the Commission regulates and licenses all possible types of gambling activities, starting with sports betting and poker, ending with the placement of slot machines. Moreover, even slot machines such as paintball, as required licensing.

License types of Spelinspektionen

The gaming Commission issues several licenses allowing to legally organize casinos and other gambling:
For casino organization:

• Kasinon med internationella spelregler (high-stakes casinos) - this category implies licensing of land-based casinos. The agreement with the operator clearly states the number of gaming tables, the permitted size of bets, and the minimum percentage of payments to players.
• Kasinospel på restaurang med lägre (casino in bars, restaurants) - unlike the first type of licensing, in the category of this institution only roulette, cards, and dice games are allowed. The amount of bets at the gaming tables is significantly lower than with the first type of license.
• Kasinospel online (online casino) – any gambling conducted on the Internet.

Slot machines:

• Spelautomater – this category includes all slot machines (even entertainment machines, such as paintball) located in all places.

Bingo:

• Bingo – issued on the ground of varieties bingo.

Card games within the tournament

• Kortspel i turneringsform – mostly licensed poker tournaments.

Lotteries

• Lotterier – all types of lotteries

Sports betting

• Vadhållning – any kind of sports betting 

To obtain a gambling license, you need to fill out an application and pay a fee from 100 to 5000 Euros, depending on the type of license. If the application is rejected, the fee is not refundable. The tax rate paid by licensed operators on a monthly basis is 18% of the amount of bets made in the casino, net of winnings paid.

Dispute resolution

Paradoxically, the Swedish Gaming Commission does not consider complaints of players on gambling establishments, although it makes sense to assume the opposite.

But players are still given the opportunity to defend their rights and get, for example, their winnings (if the casino refuses to pay) by contacting Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (General complaints Commission). On the official website www.arn.se, you must go to your personal account and fill out the appropriate form, after which the appeal will be considered. It is also possible to apply via email or by visiting the organization in person. Commission considers complaints if the amount of the claim is not less than SEK 1000.

It should be remembered that you can make out your claim only after contacting the operator and receiving a response from him.

The average time for complaints is six months. Please note, when filling out the application, it is necessary to briefly and maximally describe the essence of the claim and attach all the necessary evidence, such as screenshots of electronic correspondence.

Although the Commission does not consider complaints of players, it nevertheless, recommends that players still report violations by online operators. To do this, you can send an email or fill out the feedback form on the official website of the company.

Conclusion

Spelinspektionen is a fairly young organization designed to make the market of gambling services in Sweden transparent, safe, and regulated. It should be noted that after analyzing almost a year of work of the organization, it is safe to say that the licensee has established itself as a strict regulator. Casinoz does not fully understand the position of the Inspectorate in relation to the protection of the rights of players, namely working with customer complaints against online operators. Why redirect these requests to other organizations, it would make sense to deal with them yourself.