Dutch Senate approves “milestone” Remote Gaming Bill

The Dutch Senate today voted to adopt the long-delayed Remote Gaming Bill into law, paving the way for regulated egaming in the Netherlands.

In addition to the main vote, senators agreed to adopt a motion proposing a two-year “cooling off” period for so-called “illegal” operators, although the terminology of what constitutes an illegal operator has not been confirmed.

In the wake of the vote, shares in Swedish operator Betsson, one of the firms which may be subject to the cooling off period, dropped by more than 5%.

Senators also voted to investigate whether to ban online gambling advertising in the Netherlands.

Dutch Minister of Justice Sander Dekker, who had long campaigned for greater legalisation of egaming, hailed the move as a positive one for the Netherlands. He said: “I am happy that we can now offer players a secure offer so that games of chance can be played online in a responsible manner.”

The Dutch government also adopted a motion saying it would “consider” giving the Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) powers to block the ISPs of illegal operators, but only after the evaluation period of the new legislation had been completed. This is scheduled for 2022.

These sentiments were echoed by Rene Jansen, chair of the KSA, who called today’s vote a “milestone”, adding that it would “enable the KSA to protect participants in online games of chance”.

https://twitter.com/justingaminglaw/status/1097848883793801217

Acting quickly following the vote, the KSA confirmed the conditions which operators must fulfil to qualify for a permit under the new legislation.  Operators must connect to a central Control Database (CDB) in which they will provide the KSA with all information on licensed gaming activities, together with connecting to a nationwide self-exclusion database.

In addition to this, operators must show a duty of care to consumers, monitoring players and intervening where at-risk gambling is suspected.