Netherlands Officials to Increase Action Against Unauthorized Providers

Netherlands officials are taking a hard line against unauthorized providers. Licensing – iGB

The Netherlands government has mandated a crackdown on unauthorized providers that continue to accept payments from Netherlands players.

Home > Law & Compliance > Licensing > Netherlands officials to increase action against unauthorized providers

Netherlands officials are increasing action against unauthorized providers
Netherlands Minister of Legal Protection Sander Dekker informed the legislature that there would be a significant tightening of the rules on providers who had not yet been pursued by the Netherlands officials under the “cooling-off period” approach implemented earlier this year before the Remote Gambling Act came into effect.

With the licensing system set to take effect in October, licenses will be announced in the coming days, and Dekker stated in a written response to the House of Representatives that the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) regulator will no longer tolerate providers offering games to Netherlands players, even if they do not offer Netherlands-language websites or domain names. Dekker has instructed the regulator to develop a plan for “intensified enforcement.”

Dekker suggested that these unlicensed providers will soon have to make their websites inaccessible or face legal action by the Netherlands officials.

“I want to direct Netherlands players towards legal services,” Dekker wrote.

This is the reason why I want to prevent players from having the chance, providing them with the opportunity to keep working with illicit suppliers on a broader scale. I have requested the KSA to develop guidelines that will gradually enhance the implementation of its regulations.

When deciding if an operator is providing games in the Netherlands, it will examine if they have been doing so in the last 32 months. Operators such as Unibet and Betfair are currently not permitted to apply for a Dutch license because they were discovered to have been operating illegally in the Dutch market in recent years. They can only apply for a license starting from April 1, 2022 at the earliest. In October 2020, the KSA provided the terms and conditions for license applications under the country’s new remote gambling law, which included reporting various policies of applicants and details of the application of their “cooling-off” requirements. The KSA stated that a license would be granted without question if the operator had not recently offered online gambling to the Dutch market and “there was no other reason to doubt the [operator’s] trustworthiness.” It has been proposed that the KSA could warn unlicensed overseas gambling groups that they could be entirely excluded from the licensing application procedure if they continue to allow Dutch residents to participate.

When deciding if an operator is providing games in the Netherlands, it will examine if they have been doing so in the last 32 months.

Online platforms in the Netherlands, whose online presence or portions of their online presence are in Dutch, promote their services in Dutch media, or their website displays characteristic Dutch terminology, visuals, or ideas.

The regulatory body mentioned that, at present, there are no well-defined criteria regarding the number of infringements that would result in the rejection of a license application. However, an increasing number of recent violations would significantly increase the likelihood of rejection.

Guidelines issued earlier today by the regulatory body stipulate that Dutch gambling license holders are obligated to report significant occurrences that could potentially harm the industry’s reputation within a 72-hour timeframe.

Sign up for the iGaming newsletter.