Kindred Group’s daily fines in Norway to be reinstated
In the latest twist to the legal clash between Norwegian Gambling Authority Lotteritilsynet, and Kindred Group, the authority has decided to reinstate daily fines on Kindred subsidiary Trannel International. In September, Lotteritilsynet had slapped daily fines until the day Kindred ceased operations in the country via Trannel, before overturning the decision in October after a compromise had been reached. The Norwegian Gambling Authority has now found that Kindred’s proposed resolution plans do not hold up to scrutiny.
This is one of many flip-flops in what has been a three-year legal battle that has done little to stop Kindred Group’s presence in Norway. ©Dim Hou/Unsplash
In what seemed to be the final escalation from the Norwegian Gambling Authority after a three-year battle that began in 2019, they had announced daily fine of NOK 1.2 million (approximately €120,000) on Kindred Group that would only cease if its Malta-based subsidiary, Trannel International, stopped offering all kinds of gambling services in Norway without a license. Unibet and Maria Casino are among the names that operate via Trannel in Norway without being officially recognized by the authority.
As a response, Kindred announced that it had made several tweaks to its services to make sure they comply with the guidelines issued by Lotteritilsynet. The Swedish operator said that it had changed the language on all its sites from Norwegian to English, in Norway. They also said they had removed the country’s flag from display, and the name of one of Trannel’s operators – Storspiller – had been switched to a non-Norwegian name. Additionally, advertising and marketing activities in the Norwegian language had allegedly been stopped, and Norwegian-speaking agents were longer a part of its customer service.
Why Lotteritilsynet aren’t satisfied with these resolutions from Kindred
In a detailed statement, Norway Gambling Authority director Henrik Nordal specified how the tweaks still did not comply with the regulations put forth by Lotteritilsynet – with the simple premise that Kindred were still operating without a license, despite the cosmetic tweaks on their websites. The case, which dates back to 2019, was built on this fact and has since been challenged multiple times in different avenues – at every stage, the gambling authority’s decision has been backed, with the Oslo Court being the latest to say so. Kindred are now believed to be seeking a higher court’s opinion. Nordal said that the fine was being reinstated, beginning November 22.
“As Trannel has described it, their gaming offer will still be aimed at the Norwegian market and the illegal gambling will still be offered in Norway, even after Trannel’s plans for compliance have been implemented. The Norwegian Lottery Authority therefore considers Trannel’s plans to be insufficient to comply with the suspension decision. We cannot see that there is a basis for granting further deferred implementation of the compulsory fine decision. The Norwegian Lottery Authority therefore finds it necessary to let the compulsory fine run in order to emphasize the seriousness of the case vis-à-vis Trannel. We have therefore decided to start the compulsory penalty from and including Tuesday 22 November 2022. The compulsory fine will run until Trannel stops offering gambling in Norway without Norwegian permission from the online gaming sites Unibet, Mariacasino, Storspiller and Bingo in accordance with our decision on suspension of 5 April 2019.”
The Three-Year Timeline
The squabble between the Swedish operator and the Norwegian regulator has now been on for three years. The first shots were fired in April 2019 when the regulator issued the first order against Kindred’s Trannel International. The ban was defied as the operation continued in Norway. In June 2019, the Norwegian Chess Foundation and Kindred were set to partner up when Lotteritilsynet warned the former about “collaborating with an entity that knowingly breaks Norwegian laws”.
The Norwegian regulator mentioned how the Chess Foundation would operate in a gray area between expression and freedom after the collaboration. After appealing the first order, Trannel International lost the appeal in May 2020. Trannel’s argument in place stated that the operator had a Maltese license with a headquarters in the same country and hence should be allowed to offer its services in Norway. The operator lost another lawsuit in the Oslo District Court two years later.
Kindred’s long-standing position on this matter has been that since their Malta license falls under the EU/EEA area, Norwegians are free to sign up for their services. Rolf Sims, the public affairs manager of Kindred Norway has previously gone on record to say that Kindred’s services should be accessible to Norwegian citizens in the “same way that it is not illegal for Norwegians to shop with eBay or Amazon, it is not illegal for Norwegians to participate in cross-border services, including lawful, regulated entertainment-based gambling.”
