Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has ordered lottery operator Folkspel to pay a sanction fee of SEK500,000 (PS37,498/EUR44,406/$47,506) for allowing a minor to gamble.
Spelinspektionen was notified by several sources that a player under the age of 18 had participated in Bingolotto on 23 December 2023, which is a Folkspel televised lotto show.
Folkspel called Spelinspektionen to inform them of the incident. They confirmed that the minor was a Bingolotto player who had participated in the game in the month prior.
Spelinspektionen stated in a report dated June 25 that there were no technical requirements to verify identity or age when the player was calling to play Bingolotto. The company said that at the time, there were no grounds to suspect a ticket had been purchased by a child. It also noted the general terms and conditions of the game clearly stated ticket purchasers must be 18 years old.
Folkspel acknowledged that similar problems had occurred in the past involving underage players. It stated that these callers had tickets owned by another person, typically a parent, guardian or child.
Spelinspektionen, in order to follow up the case and gather more information about it, sent an inquiry to Folkspel back in March. Folkspel has made changes in its operation after an internal audit to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.
The age of players participating in Bingolotto was checked manually starting on 31 March.
The company has begun working on a solution that will automatically verify the social security number of players before they are allowed to play.
Folkspel is subject to a warning and sanction
Spelinspektionen, however, flagged a “undisputed violation” of the rules and regulations for allowing a child to gamble.
In light of additional minor cases, the regulator emphasized the “lack” of routines to verify players’ ages and identities, thereby allowing gambling by underage children. The regulator also issued an operator warning along with the fine.
