The Supreme Court of Norway has rejected a case brought by Stockholm-based Kindred Group for its subsidiary Trannel International, which claimed that Norway’s gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet acted illegally and imposed unfair restrictions when it prevented it from offering online gaming.
The Supreme Court Appeals Committee ruled unanimously that there were no grounds for it to hear the case, which was initially brought against the Ministry of Culture in 2018.
Kindred (Trannel) brought the complaint after the regulator blocked payments between its online sites and players and banned Kindred apps from being sold at the Norway Apple App store.
Trannel lost at the municipal court level and then the court of appeal, and finally at the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that if the regulator were not able to exercise this authority it would be unable to act as a sovereign state.
Norway ordered Kindred to cease operating inside the country after it was accused of illegally targeting Norwegian players. The ban came after the payment blocking orders.
Last month the court upheld Norway’s right to give Norsk Tipping a monopoly on gaming.
Kindred issued this statement: “We have acknowledged that the Supreme Court has chosen not to hear Trannel’s appeal in the case. We find this unfortunate as it raises many principle issues regarding the Norwegian Gaming Authority`s supervision of national law outside Norwegian territory.”
It added, “We would however like to emphasize that despite the Authority’s efforts we have not experienced a shift in Norwegian players’ wish to seek entertainment by playing online outside Norway, but within the EU, to gain access to more diverse gaming offers and better odds.”
