Kindred Group has responded to the Swedish government’s proposal to reintroduce liability measures by saying that these types of temporary restrictions will have a detrimental effect on consumers. Instead of protecting consumers and improving safeguards, Kindred thinks that the measures will undermine the current progress achieved.
The Measures Were Proposed on January 4
The Ministry of Finance of Sweden proposed temporary restrictions as a way to battle the increase of public health problems related to gambling during the pandemic. One of those restrictions is a weekly cap for online slots, which is likely to be around $440 (SEK4,000).
These temporary measures can be put into effect on February 7 depending on the progress, and they might be implemented until June 2022. Apart from the weekly online slot cap, time limits at both online and land-based casinos and a loss limit when gambling outside of a casino have been proposed.
Bonuses and promotions were not left out of the equation as the proposition states that the maximum value of a bonus should not exceed $10 (SEK100). Limits similar to the ones proposed now have been set in June 2020, when the government introduced a $50 (SEK500) deposit cap, and it was met with quite a lot of criticism.
Kindred Is Not The Only Organization That is Displeased With the Proposal
In a written response to the Swedish government, which was sent on January 19, Kindred criticized this proposal by stating that it would weaken consumer protection. The response states that the online casino restrictions do not “meet the criteria of evidence-based policymaking.”
It said that the current proposal doesn’t establish facts or evidence, which is why Kindred is struggling to find anything affirmative to consider the proposal a decent one. One of the objections of Kindred, which recently ceased to serve Dutch players, is that licensed operators won’t be able to fulfill their duties, and players might be encouraged to register and play at unlicensed operators, just so they can escape these restrictions.
That will lead to low-level implementation and won’t do the industry any good. In the written statement, Kindred concluded that if restrictions are a must, the simplest solution would be to impose the same measures during the previous restriction period.
Kindred is no stranger to funding campaigns that raise awareness in many fields, and it is not the only company that has criticized the proposed measures. Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), the Swedish online gambling association, had a similar stance as Kindred on the issue. The country’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, did not object to the proposed restrictions, although it did state that their effects are unknown.