Dutch gambling regulator finds “major differences” in duty of care approaches
The KSA has extended its investigation to obtain more information.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has provided an update on its investigation into gaming operators’ duty of care responsibilities to respond to gambling addiction. It said it will extend its investigation into the second quarter of the year in order to obtain more information from licensees.
The regulator said it had found “major differences” in how operators are dealing with lost bets and average losses, play time, number of bets and the timing and form of interventions. It said that there was “no clear approach” among operators, although it recognised that young adults are specifically being monitored
The KSA said: “An important first finding is that the providers have shaped their duty of care in very different ways. In addition, the information provided does not give sufficient information about the exact process of providers’ duty of care.”
KSA seeks more information for coherent player protection policy
The regulator said it had taken the decision to extend the investigation in order to gather more information to inform the creation of a coherent player protection policy. It plans to publish a full report after concluding the probe in Q2.
The regulator began the investigation with a call for information from the Netherlands’ 22 licensed operators on the heels of a separate investigation conducted by KSA research partner and University of Utrecht lecturer, Dr. Gert-Jan Meerkerk.
This investigation found no inferiority in Dutch regulation compared to other European countries, and said some countries with stricter regulations were in situations that were not compatible with the Dutch market.
Dutch gaming regulator “means business” with fines against five operators
Last week, the KSA announced that it had fined five online gambling operators a total of €26m. The fines were issued against operators that the KSA says were targeting the market without local licences.
The operators hit with penalties are N1 Interactive, Videoslots, BetPoint Group, Probe Investments and Fairload Limited. The KSA says the fines were issued in December 2022 but it has only now made the announcement because the operators had made legal appeals to attempt to block the regulator from naming them publicly.
That request has been turned down by court, leading the regulator to publish the names of the operators and the details of each fine. Videoslots had already preempted that move by criticising the fine and announcing that it would appeal.
