Swedish regulator hands ATG SEK 2m penalty fee
Swedish horseracing brand AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) has been fined SEK 2m ($188,470) for a technical problem related to its self-exclusion function.
Between 13 and 28 January, customers who logged in with a mobile bank ID were unable to access ATG’s self-exclusion feature.
As a result, players could not exclude themselves “from all pages,” which means ATG breached Sweden’s Gaming Ordinance, according to regulator Spelinspektionen.
Licensees must allow registered users to voluntarily suspend themselves from play, for which ATG typically provides a specific self-exclusion function.
However, a technical error occurred following an update of ATG’s login system, which in turn rendered said function inaccessible. This error went undiscovered for two weeks, a delay that Spelinspektionen deemed inexcusable.
“Spelinspektionen does not consider it excusable that a technical error causes a deficiency of this nature without ATG immediately discovering the error,” it stated.
“The bug was only discovered 14 days later, and a larger amount (estimated at 100) players may thus have been affected by the error.”
Consequently, ATG’s offence was considered neither “trivial or excusable,” and led Spelinspektionen to issue a notice and penalty fee.
However, it did reflect on several mitigating factors. Chiefly, players were able to exclude themselves via customer service and the link to Spelpaus functioned correctly.
ATG also “promptly” corrected the error once discovered and has since introduced routines to prevent the same error from reoccurring.
Nevertheless, Spelinspektionen said: “Even though ATG corrected the error immediately after they discovered it, the time period is not insignificant in the context.”
Taking into account these circumstances, alongside the violation’s severity, Spelinspektionen has levied a SEK 2m fine.
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