The Spelinspektionen has issued a warning and penalty to ATG after it was discovered that a self-exclusion function was not accessible for those logged in with a mobile bank ID when using the group’s platforms.
The company, which notified the gaming authority of the issue on February 15, 2022, discovered that during the the January 13 to January 28 time frame it was not possible to reach the self-deactivation function.
It is said that the error, which has seen a SEK 2m (£160,000) penalty fee issued, occurred following an update of the login system, with the problem discovered on January 27 and subsequently rectified the next day.
Furthermore, ATG noted that it has not been able to ascertain an exact number of users that had tried to utilise the feature, but estimates that 100 users “may have had problems”.
According to the group, the shortcoming identified has been remedied and new procedures have been introduced to prevent the error from being repeated.
“Taking into account the same circumstances as mentioned above regarding the seriousness of the violation, how long the violation has been going on and ATG’s turnover, the Spelinspektionen assesses that the sanction fee should amount to SEK 2m,” the regulator said in an update regarding the matter.
“The Swedish Gaming Authority assesses that this penalty fee is also proportionate to ATG’s GGR.”
ATG was granted licences on November 27, 2018, to provide commercial online gambling and betting under the Gambling Act from 1 January 2019. These are valid until December 31, 2023.
Moreover, the SGA also issued an update regarding requirements set by the Gambling Act in a bid to ensure that the activity is conducted in a healthy and safe manner under public control.
“A licensee must give registered players the opportunity to suspend themselves from games for a certain period of time or until further notice,” it added. “A suspension until further notice may not be lifted until after twelve months at the earliest.
“The function for self-exclusion must be clearly visible and accessible from all pages on the website where the player can play or where there is information about the gambling account or information about gambling responsibility.”
