Dutch gambling regulator announces funding for safer gambling initiatives

The KSA has announced funding for three programmes.

The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has announced funding for three safer gambling initiatives through its national addiction prevention fund, Verslavingspreventiefonds (VPF). The funding has been granted to Jellinek, Gelfit and the Bright at School programme.

Jellinek is an addiction agency that developed a gambling addiction training programme at the request of the Ministry of Justice when the Dutch online gambling market opened. The new funding will be used to raise awareness of the programme, which has input from doctors and mental health professionals. It will also update its e-learning tools.

Gelfit is a service that provides education on managing money. The funding will go to the development of a guide intended to deal with the financial problems caused by gambling addiction and the risks of gambling. Finally, the Bright at School programme is an addiction prevention initiative for schools created by the Trimbos Institute. It provides education on smoking, drinking and excessive gaming.

The Trimbos Institute will use the new funding to add gambling education to Bright at School’s curriculum, including training on how to identify problem gambling behaviour in young people.

Managed by the KSA, the VPF was created in 2021 under the Netherlands’ Remote Gaming Act and is funded by a levy on gambling operators. The KSA works with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Justice and Security to determine how to distribute the funds.

Last week, the KSA announced that it intends to make recommendations for legislative and regulatory amendments on player protection to the Dutch Ministry of Justice. The move comes after the KSA completed an investigation into operator duty of care practices in which it found current safeguards to be lacking to adequately protect bettors. It concluded that operators could intervene “more quickly and effectively” in some cases of excessive gambling.

Meanwhile, the regulator has announced the launch of a probe into prohibited cashback bonuses. It has contacted all licensees to warn them to stop offering the promotions.