Dutch regulator turns up heat on unlicensed operators
Kansspelautoriteit hikes minimum fine for the targeting of Dutch players by 50% in order to bolster deterrent
The Netherland’s gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) is raising the minimum fine for operators found to be targeting players in the country, as the authority continues to bear down on those breaching the law ahead of the start of its regulated regime.
From tomorrow, the minimum fine for illegal activity will increase by 50,000 to 150,000 (£105,000), but fines can range up to 810,000 for more wide-ranging and systematic breaches of the rules.
The move was described as a “periodic increase” by the KSA, which added that inflation meant there was a need for a higher minimum to act as a stronger deterrent.
A spokesperson for the KSA told eGaming Review it had issued a total of six fines over the past two years and expected that number would increase in the coming months.
Of the fines issued, three have so far been paid, all by European-based operators likely to seek a Netherlands licence when new regulation is finally introduced.
The KSA spokesperson said pursuing the three outstanding fines was more difficult. In one instance, it has turned to the Dutch government to put pressure on its Curaçaoan counterpart to pursue 100,000 owed by an operator based on the island.
Earlier this week the KSA issued a 180,000 fine to a pair of companies, Total E Soft Ltd and XKL Ltd, after its investigation found that 14 sites run by the firms were offering illegal games of chance to Dutch players.
The KSA is cracking down on illegal gambling ahead of a new Remote Gambling Act which is expected to be implemented in 2017.
In June the regulator reached an agreement with eight of the country’s biggest media companies to ban advertising by unlicensed operators.