The Netherlands Gambling Authority, De Kansspelautoriteit, has announced that it will implement new measures to force unlicensed gambling operators to withdraw from the Dutch market.
The new measures, that come into effect on November 1st, replace the previous policy which intimated that unlicensed operators would be tolerated if they didn’t actively target the Dutch market.
However, de Kansspelautoriteit has been forced into making a policy change following a new enforcement directive announced by Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker. The new directive aims to encourage local players to move from illegal and unlicensed operators to those who are licensed by the regulator.
As a result of the policy change, from November 1st 2021, de Kansspelautoriteit will use new prioritization criteria when making a decision on whether to take action against an unlicensed operator.
The new criteria includes:
- The number of registered Dutch players
- The harmfulness of the operator’s gambling products
- How competitive the unlicensed operator is with legal alternatives
- How or if the unlicensed operator actively targets the Dutch market
In simple terms, this means that any operator with a significant customer base in the Netherlands or who is actively trying to win new customers in the local market will face sanctions from de Kansspelautoriteit.
The regulator has also introduced stiffer financial penalties for illegal operators. Any operator found to have breached Dutch gambling laws will face a minimum fine of €600,000. If the operator’s revenues exceed €15 million, the fine will be 4% of those revenues.
The regulator will also be in a position to target and fine individuals, such company executives, that are found responsible for overseeing any violations of Dutch gambling laws. The new fines will take effect from October 1st 2021.
The new measures could see a significant number of international operators to follow Betfair’s lead and withdraw from the Dutch market. In a recent interview with GamblingIndustryNews.com, Dutch Poker Hall-of-Famer Frank op De Woerd told us that how the Dutch online gambling market developed depended a great deal on ‘how effective the regulator – de Kansspelautoriteit – proves to be in banning illegal operators from the market.’
With these new measures in place, the Dutch regulator now has the power to directly target and punish not only the operators but the individuals behind the scenes.
However, Peter-Paul de Goeij, Director of trade association NOGA, feels that the new directive from Minister Dekker could be a step too far saying:
“The Minister’s new enforcement directive appears inconsistent with previous policy decisions that were supported by Parliament. The reasoning in his recent letter does not stand up to scrutiny. Players forced to switch to licensed offerings are instead likely to end up with operators who have no intention whatsoever to apply for a Dutch remote license. Ultimately, this decision will mainly benefit rogue operators, who are, undoubtedly, cheering this outcome as we speak.”
NOGA has yet to comment on the new measures implemented following the Minister’s directive.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.