Kindred Group drops appeal against €470,000 Dutch fine

Kindred Group has dropped its appeal against a €470,000 fine levied over alleged unlicensed online gambling in the Netherlands.

Speaking to EGR, Kindred public affairs manager for the Netherlands Eric Konings said the firm had withdrawn its appeal and paid its fine because it was looking forward “positively to the regulation of remote gaming in the Netherlands”.

“We have always been supportive of the Act and the policy objectives of consumer protection, fraud and addiction prevention and remain supportive of this,” Konings added.

Last month, the Dutch government confirmed that it would push passage of the Remote Gaming Act to January 2021, to allow time for secondary legislation to be implemented.

The Dutch market would then effectively commence in July 2021, just a month prior to the end of the period in which Kindred Group would be required to remain inactive in the Dutch market.

Under proposed legislation, operators which have previously been sanctioned by the KSA would be excluded from applying for a Dutch egaming licence for a period of two years in a so-called cooling off period.

During this period, the operator must remain inactive and not target Dutch players via the so-called prioritisation criteria.

“The Minister has stated he is now looking at mid-2021 for the Remote Gaming Act going into effect in the Netherlands,” said Konings.

“We hope there will be no further delay as this is does not serve consumer protection in any way.”

Kindred received the fine in August, after the KSA found its Unibet brand had been offering online gambling to Dutch players from 11 August 2018 to 27 December 2018.