Swedish Health and Social Affairs Minister Ardalan Shekarabi has proposed a mandatory weekly deposit limit of SEK 5000 (£401 / €459 / US$495) and a limit of SEK 100 for bonus offers from 1 June until the end of 2020, as the country battles a new coronavirus (COVID-19).
Shekarabi also said there will be mandatory limits on playing time, while the government is also exploring limits on return to player (RTP).
Restrictions will also apply to video lottery terminals (VLTs) and Bingo Utan Svensk Licens, with relatively lenient restrictions in the country on social activity during the virus meaning that some land-based gaming facilities remain open.
Gustav Hoffstedt, general secretary of the Swedish online gambling association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel, told iGB that these measures are likely to lead to more players moving to the unlicensed market.
"I am very concerned about the fact that this will accelerate the leakage from the Swedish licensing system to unlicensed sites," Hoffstedt said. "We already have a problematic leakage rate of around 25% when it comes to online casinos, and with these government measures the situation will only get worse."
The proposal will go to review, which will conclude on May 7, and allow interested parties to provide input before it takes effect. However, Hoffstedt said that the referral process would be very short, and that rule changes during such a process are generally unlikely.
In addition, the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) will issue monthly reports until 1 September on the latest developments, enforcement action against unlicensed gambling sites and measures taken to strengthen consumer protection.
Spelinspektionen will also be tasked with extending Spelpaus' national self-exclusion register to the land-based market as well as online.
"We will now focus even more clearly on responsibility for gambling and the fight against illegal gambling. We will immediately make changes to the organisation to meet the new requirements for the Authority," said Spelinspektionen CEO Camilla Rosenberg.
The Swedish market is characterised by a particularly strict approach to enforcement, opening the regulated gambling market on 1 January 2019.
For example, in July 2019, following a series of fines for Swedish operators for explicitly offering odds on sporting events in which the majority of participants are under 18, the BOS requested an urgent meeting with Spelinspektionen for more clarity on the rules. However, the regulator stated that the operators were simply "unused" to its approach to regulation.
The BOS later criticised the regulator's approach to tackling illegal activities in the market, saying its strict approach to enforcing rules against licensed operators was not matched by efforts to eradicate unlicensed gambling.
In February, Spelinspektionen introduced an amendment to the country's gaming rules that would prohibit operators from offering odds on rule violations, such as a yellow card in football or a mistake in tennis.
This has drawn criticism from the BOS and IBIA, while H2 Gambling Capital has indicated that the transmission rate of commercial online betting with a Spelinspektionen licence could drop by up to 70% (down 11%).
Elsewhere in Europe, Latvia has banned all online gambling while it remains in a state of emergency due to a virus, after the country's regulator received legal clarification on an initially controversial bill.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Portugal's parliament passed a law requiring the government to take any measures to curb online gambling during the pandemic.
Read More How AR/VR technologies change casinos