Dutch regulator approves 10 online gaming licences
The KSA has granted 10 online gaming licences ahead of the launch of the Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market on Friday.
The Netherlands.- The national gaming regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has announced that it has approved 10 online gaming licences ahead of the launch of regulated online gambling on October 1. The KSA said it would announce the names of the successful applicants later in the week.
The number of licences represents just over a third of the 28 applications the KSA said it had received after opening licensing applications in April.
However, the regulator’s chairman, René Jansen, said further licensees would be added in the near future, with more applications still expected. He said the market would probably not reach its final shape until July 2022.
He had initially anticipated that the KSA would receive around 40 applications. Licence applicants have each paid a €48,000 licence fee.
Jansen said: “High requirements are imposed on a license, including in the field of addiction prevention and consumer protection, and the KSA tests rigorously.”
Ahead of the launch of the regulated market, the KSA has announced an increase in its fines for unlicensed operators following a government call for a clampdown. The regulator recently issued a fine of €531,000 to Tipico for offering gambling illegally.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, iGB Live! got underway in Amsterdam this week, offering the first major in-person gaming show since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
