SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has warned yet another operator for offering gambling services in the Netherlands illegally.
The company in question is Alimaniere Sociedad de Responsabilidad, which targeted Dutch citizens through a number of domains without having the required licence.
Following the initial investigation, the KSA concluded that the firm was operating the time2spin.com domain illegally. After being taken down, a follow up inquiry established that a second domain, time2spin1.com, is being used.
If the illegal offering doesn’t cease immediately, the KSA has threatened to move forward with a penalty of €140,000, with the possibility of this rising to €420,000.
Most recently, the KSA issued a €675,000 fine to NetX Betting Ltd for similar branches of the country’s licensing regulations.
Currently, the regulated market in the Netherlands that launched in 2021 is going through a significant transition The 2021 Remote Gambling Act (KOA), which launched the market three years ago, is subject to reforms spearheaded by former Legal Protections Minister Franc Weerwind.
A separate three-year evaluation was recently published by the Research Agency for Justice and Security, which found that KOA has some gaps in its legislation around protecting consumers and vulnerable groups.
Secretary of State for Legal Protection, Teun Struycken, has committed to evaluating whether additional measures to strengthen licensees’ duty of care should be introduced, potentially through policy adjustments or ministerial regulations rather than legislative changes.
This could revive discussions around a ban on online slots, as the review indicates that Struycken is considering restrictions on “high-risk games” within the legal product offerings, specifically targeting “online gaming machines” within the existing legal framework.
