Danish regulator warns licensees over bonus offers

The Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) has issued a warning to licensed operators in the country to ensure that any bonus offers they are running are in line with rules set out by the Danish Consumer Ombudsman. Referring to an Ombudsman ruling in February 2016, the regulator said that any offers featuring turnover or rollover requirements may not be marketed as ‘free’ in the country. The regulator also cites Executive Order on Online Casino section 20(1)(1) and the Executive Order on Betting section 19(1)(1), which say licensed operators must “clearly state all terms and conditions connected to a bonus offer directly alongside the offer”. The regulator says these rules apply to offers such as free bets and free spins for online slot games, and operators that use the term ‘free’ can only do so if there are no additional wagering requirements attached to the offer. This was the case with the 2016 Ombudsman ruling where an operator had been advertising that players could get up 100 free spins if they made a deposit of at least DKK25 (£2.89/€3.35/$3.78). However, the operator in question said that players could only withdraw their free spins winnings once they had hit a wagering requirement of 15x their original deposit during a certain period. The Ombudsman ruled that the use of the term ‘free’ in the ad was misleading, as the free spins that were issued were not free and included additional wagering requirements. Spillemyndigheden has been aiming to enhance consumers protection measures in 2019, successfully petitioning the country’s telecommunications providers to block access to 25 unlicensed gaming websites. A new code of conduct for gaming operators active in Denmark was published last month, with the aim of strengthening consumer protection and lowering the risk of gambling addiction in the country. Due to come into force on July 1, 2019, the code aims to set limits and offer tools that go beyond regulatory requirements to help protect consumers.