KSA tests public awareness of CRUKS 2.0

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Netherlands Gambling Authority, has initiated a ‘pilot campaign’ to raise public awareness of CRUKS, the Dutch gambling central self-exclusion register.

Pilot campaigns have commenced across social media platforms, informing audiences about how to self-exclude from all Dutch licensed gambling operators via CRUKS.

Operated by the KSA, the CRUKS register was launched on 1 October 2021 to coincide with the Dutch government’s introduction of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) marketplace, regulating online gambling services.

CRUKS allows gamblers in the Netherlands to “voluntarily take a break from gambling.” Once registered, they cannot participate in legal online casinos and other gambling offers in the country for a minimum of six months and up to 99 years.

During H1, KSA launched its revamped CRUKS 2.0 register. The update made it easier to unsubscribe from gambling activities and added an eight-day reflection period for those considering unsubscribing.

The CRUKS tagline also changed from ‘play break’ to ‘gambling stop,’ with a new website redirect.

KSA cited that its pilot campaigns have been initiated to “identify the most effective messages and creative concepts to alert the public of self-exclusion from gambling”.

The regulator will test the most effective channels to raise “awareness of gambling stop, focusing on the most at-risk target groups.”

The Netherlands is preparing to contest an election on 22 November. Significant ministerial changes are anticipated across all key departments following the collapse of the governing four-party coalition in July over asylum laws and immigration reforms backed by the VVD Party.

The collapse saw PM Mark Rutte resign and choose to take no part in the upcoming election as VVD’s leader, ending his 13-year premiership.

Last month, KSA announced that Chairman René Jansen will retire from leadership duties in January 2024. In his outgoing statement, Jansen endorsed tougher regulatory demands on duty-of-care, record-keeping, and the monitoring of advertising campaigns to be imposed on KOA market operators