Dutch government unveils draft secondary regulations ahead of parliamentary debate
Licences will last five years under new regulatory regime with advertising, bonuses and deposit limits all restricted
The Dutch government has released its first draft set of secondary regulations which will govern the country’s online gambling market from 2021.
Licences will be available for online casino, sports betting and horserace betting but will not be available for online lottery. All licences will be valid for a period of five years.
Decisions on whether operators should be licensed will be made within six months after receipt of an application, however the KSA can extend this period as required. In addition, the KSA will retain the right to limit the licence term, as long as they have “sound motivation” to do so.
The secondary regulations also include a prohibition on operator advertising on television between the hours of 6am and 7pm.
Operators are required to appoint an authorised representative to be based in the Netherlands to comply with the regulations. Licensees must not offer credit to players and must operate a company-wide integrity policy in respect of fraud and anti-money laundering.
Licensees must only allow players to gamble after that person imposes certain limits, including time limits and maximum deposit limits. In both cases the limits will be available to set per day, per week or per month.
Players must also specify the maximum credit allowed on the gaming account, although all limits can be amended with a week’s notice. Operators must provide players with information on the time elapsed since last login and the balance of the playing account within the player interface.
In addition, usage of player bonuses is managed to ensure that bonuses are not allocated to the player based on their individual playing behaviour.
Operators are also required to give players the opportunity to decline further bonuses.
Sports betting operators are required not to offer markets on any youth competitions as well as any event in which athletes participate for free.
Licensees must operate a single player account and are required to not allow gambling on any player account where the balance of that account is negative. According to the proposals, operators must locate their servers either in the Netherlands, another EU member state or in the country in which its headquarters is located.
All licensed operators must also develop and maintain an addiction-prevention policy.
The draft decree was passed to the Dutch senate and house of representatives for debate over the coming months, with a target date for licensing to begin in January 2021.