SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Konsumentverket, Sweden’s consumer affairs agency, has issued a warning to licensed online gambling operators of their duties in ‘providing balanced and fair conditions to consumers’.
The agency stated that it had found ‘numerous shortcomings’ having undertaken a review of terms and conditions across 13 operators picked at random.
The operators reviewed by Konsumentverket were AG Communications, Bayton, Blue Star Planet, ComeOn Sweden, Ellmount Gaming, Genesis Global, Interwetten, MOA Gaming Sweden, Pixel Digital, Smarkets, Svenska Spel, Videoslots and Zecure Gaming.
Konsumentverket said that it had uncovered deficiencies across operators’ websites related to withdrawal restrictions, ID and verification requirements, liability disclaimers, inconsistent terms of play and unclear promotions.
In its review, the agency found that 11 firms had applied ‘contract terms’ on customer registration without disclosing what documentation customers must provide in order to be verified.
Meanwhile, four operators referred to foreign regulators terms to govern the websites terms of play and customer care duties – and three stated that a foreign court would adjudicate player disputes.
Concerns were also drawn to six operators who applied contract terms that limited the consumers right to withdraw money from their accounts.
Konsumentverket has demanded that the operators immediately examine and update their terms and conditions promoted to customers.
In addition, the agency has sent the findings of its results to Swedish Gambling Inspectorate Spelinspektionen and Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), Sweden’s online gambling trade association.
Signing-off its statement, Konsumentverket remarked: “The Swedish Consumer Agency intends to follow up the current review to see how the gaming companies have taken into account the assessments made in the current memorandum. Such a follow-up may take place in the form of individual supervisory matters.”
