So the Swedish Gambling Authority has not been around very long. Nevertheless, they have already taken a number of appealing measures. These are mainly aimed at protecting gamblers.
Gambling operators with an unclear background can forget about getting a license. This is of course good news for the players. They can gamble with peace of mind.
What the Swedish Gambling Authority does
The main purpose of Swedish Gambling Authority is virtually no different from agencies in other countries. They were founded to make gambling legal and safe. They try to achieve this by handing out licenses. Without such a license, a company cannot offer gambling. The Swedish Gambling Authority is responsible for issuing such licenses to all entities that have anything to do with gambling.
So it can be betting shops, but also online casinos. It is striking how closely the Swedish Gambling Authority is linked to the Swedish government. The authority falls directly under the Ministry of Finance. The main board members of the authority are directly appointed by the Swedish government. So it strongly seems that Sweden wants to get serious.
The main tasks of the Swedish Gambling Authority
Gambling is a lot safer when all transactions take place in a transparent manner. A national organization often has the interests of its citizens at heart. The Swedish Gambling Authority will therefore undoubtedly seek to protect players from the potentially harmful effects of gambling.
The Swedish Gambling Authority can work closely with other government agencies to achieve this. These include the police and addiction services. With all this power comes a lot of responsibility. In the first few years, the Swedish Gambling Authority will be heavily scrutinized.
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Informing gambling providers
Part of the Swedish Gambling Authority’s duties is advisory. They must ensure that gambling providers have sufficient information. This may even include complete training and courses. Providers must be well informed about what is and what is not allowed. It is also the task of the Swedish Gambling Authority to keep the Swedish government informed of developments in the gambling world. This includes keeping an eye on processes abroad.
Issuing licenses
This will ultimately be the most weighty task of the Swedish Gambling Authority. Although, of course, all the responsibilities of this authority are related. Gambling was prohibited in Sweden until the beginning of 2019. That has been changed. This was ultimately the main reason for establishing the Swedish Gambling Authority.
Positions of the Swedish Gambling Authority
Swedish Gambling Authority tries to apply modern principles to make gambling responsible and regulated. For example, they clearly stated that providers must protect players from addiction. Players’ behavior should be monitored and if necessary their behavior should be adjusted to limit gambling. They also have strong views on bonuses. In Sweden they may only be given out when an account is created. It is not allowed to give out bonuses in order to motivate players to continue playing.
New rules in Sweden
The Swedish Gambling Authority is closely linked to the government. Therefore, they can make changes more easily. For example, they introduced a law that made cheating at gambling a criminal activity. They have also added a lot of rules for advertising and marketing a casino. They have to be mild and not specifically aimed at reaching people under the age of 18.
Consumer complaints are not processed by the Swedish Gambling Authority
Individual consumer complaints will not be looked into by the Swedish Gambling Authority. They go directly to the Swedish Consumer Agency. Complaints regarding the integrity and fairness of an online casino are however handled by the Swedish Gambling Authority. Thus, they are primarily responsible for dealing with gambling providers who deliberately make a mess of things. It remains to be seen how these complaints will be answered. After all, the Swedish Gambling Authority has only been active for a year and has been especially busy issuing licenses and permits.
A positive addition to regulating gambling
So far at least, the Swedish Gambling Authority seems to be ambitious and willing to tackle problems caused by gambling. They have short lines of communication with the government, giving them more power than similar authorities from other countries. Therefore, the Swedish Gambling Authority seems to have a positive influence on gambling online. They take consumers and protect and crack down on opaque providers.