Netherlands to enhance oversight on gambling operators’ duty of care for young adults
The Kansspelautoriteit’s new 2025 agenda focuses on increasing protections for under-24s, tightening regulations on advertising and combating illegal gambling activities.
The Netherlands.- To strengthen consumer protection and safeguard vulnerable groups, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Gambling Authority of the Netherlands, is set to intensify its scrutiny of licensed operators, particularly their interactions with young players under the age of 24.
The move is a focal point of the KSA’s ‘Supervision Agenda 2025‘ which outlines the regulatory objectives for the Dutch gambling sector.
The agenda builds on principles initiated in October 2021, following the launch of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA), which introduced a regulatory framework for online gambling in the Netherlands to prioritise preventing gambling addiction, protecting consumers and tackling illegal gambling activities.
While new deposit limits have been implemented for players in different age categories— €700 for those above 25 and€300 for players under 24— the KSA continues to express concern over the exposure of young adults to online gambling. The authority plans to investigate the participation of minors in licensed gambling activities and focus on how gambling providers market their services to young players.
The KSA’s heightened oversight will also extend to evaluating advertising practices, particularly concerning the use of influencers and affiliates who may target young, vulnerable groups. This marks a shift towards more stringent requirements for licensed operators to prevent gambling harm among minors and young adults.
See also: KSA imposes a record fine for illegal online gambling in the Netherlands
Moreover, the KSA aims to ensure that operators comply with deposit limits and provide a safe gambling environment for younger players. By monitoring player risk profiles, the authority hopes to identify problem gamblers early and ensure operators refer them to the Netherlands’ self-exclusion scheme, CRUKS.
In its ongoing battle against illegal gambling, the KSA will also ramp up enforcement against unauthorised websites and expand its focus on intermediaries that facilitate illegal operations, such as payment providers and affiliates. The authority is committed to working closely with stakeholders to identify and address gaps in the B2B chain that enable illegal gambling supply.
Another key area of focus in the 2025 agenda is ensuring compliance with advertising regulations. The KSA has witnessed numerous violations of the tightened advertising rules introduced in 2024 and aims to bolster monitoring and provide clearer guidance to operators throughout the year.
