The Swedish government has launched a consultation on extending the temporary controls for online casinos until June, taking the temporary controls beyond the end of this year as originally scheduled.
The country is imposing the controls to protect gamblers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We see that the development of Covid-19 is going in the wrong direction in several parts of the country,” Minister for Social Security Ardalan Shekarabi said in a press release. “The situation is very serious. In the wake of the pandemic, we see continued risks in the field of gambling, which means that we need to act to reduce the risks for vulnerable consumers.”
The most controversial control is a SEK5,000 limit for online casinos as well as a loss limit for land-based slots. Players are also required to set limits on playing time when playing online casino games or slot machines, while bonuses are limited to SEK100.
The rules have drawn widespread criticism from the online gaming industry, which claims the rules have created chaos and gambling companies are having trouble enforcing them. Gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has also said the rules would be impossible to enforce.
During the consultation, the government said it will look at other restrictions put in place by European countries during the pandemic, including Spain’s temporary advertising restrictions, Latvia’s temporary ban on all forms of gambling and Belgium’s €500 weekly deposit cap.
