Dutch Gambling Regulator Imposing Strict Penalties

The Dutch gambling watchdog, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has a rather simple strategy when it comes to dealing with online gambling operators doing business without a proper license.

The regulatory body has recently announced it will impose extremely harsh financial penalties on those who try to offer their services to customers in the Netherlands without its permission.

Fines Are Described as “Terrifying”

Starting from this month, the starting fines will be increased to €200,000, while any subsequent fine will be adjusted depending on the severity of the rules the unauthorized operators violate. A number of factors will influence the fines, including the number of sites breaking the law, the number of games on offer as well as the means of promotional tools used to attract players.

For example, offering live betting, falsely claiming to be operating lawfully and imposing fees on customers will increase the starting penalty by €75,000. But that’s not all, as the penalty can also be increased percentually.

Ignoring a warning will increase the fine by 20% while targeting underage player or problem gamblers will see it rise by 50%. Those who fail to comply with the decisions made by the KSA will see their fines go up by 100%-

The fines can also be reduced by 25% as a sort of reward for cooperating with the KSA, while there will also be certain “special circumstances” when taking the size of the fine into consideration.

Just the First Step

The chairman of the KSA, Rene Jansen, stated this was only the first step, as the regulatory body intends to completely change its penalty policy in the future. Since the new Remote Gambling Bill was passed last week, the Dutch government will be issuing licenses to international operators, while those who have already been fined by the KSA will have to wait up to two years before applying for a license.

The Dutch market expects a liberalization in the near future, but the KSA plans to enforce strict rules until further notice.

Last week, the KSA issued a €400,000 fine for a series of offences such as offering a Dutch language option on its site, not blocking customers from the Netherlands and accepting payments through a locally popular service.