Mr Green and Karl Casino have received an injunction from the Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) after it was found the operators violated Sweden’s Gaming Act by marketing to self-excluded consumers.
The contacted individuals were signed up to Sweden’s national self-exclusion system, the Spelpaus. In spite of that, William-Hill owned Mr Green and L&L Europe’s Karl Casino sent both e-mail and direct mail marketing to the people signed up on the list.
The KO uncovered the breaches as part of their investigation into the operators during June and July. The agency followed up on consumer complaints that they continued to receive promotion offers, and found both casinos guilty of this.
“The law is very clear on this point; the idea is that players who want to pause or stop playing should be completely protected from direct inducements to gamble, as well as from getting advertising directly on mobile devices or via email,” KO process counsel Johanna Nyblom said.
Fines and Measures
In both cases, the KO warned it would issue a SEK 2 million fine if Mr Green and Karl Casino continue to contact self-excluded customers.
In the case of Mr Green, the operator claimed communications were sent out in error. The casino said the issue was caused due to a mismatch between their customer database and mail platform. Mr Green says the issues are now fixed, and people signed up to Spelpaus should no longer receive mail.
For Karl Casino, it was a mixture of internal human error and a partner sending advertising without their knowledge. The operator has since severed their ties with that affiliate.
The Spelpaus system launched in January as part of Sweden’s response to rising gambling addiction. Over 40,000 Swedes have signed up for the self-exclusion register since it launched, with almost half of that number being aged between 25 and 34.
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