The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit, has issued penalties totalling €26m to five companies for offering online games of chance without fully complying with Dutch regulations. The regulator’s newly adopted fines policy, which takes into account the turnover achieved in the Netherlands, was used to determine the amounts of the fines.
The companies were informed of the penalties in December, and after they requested the court to prevent the publication of the decisions, they saw their requests denied.
- N1 Interactive was issued the highest fine of €12.64m for a repeat violation. In July 2021, the Malta-based company was fined for offering games of chance to Dutch players via betchan.com.
- Videoslots was penalized €9.87m because the Gaming Authority’s word mark was incorrectly displayed on their website, which is only allowed for licensed providers.
- Betpoint Group, Probe Investments, and Fairload were also fined €1.78m, €1.12m, and €900,000, respectively, for various violations.
The lack of respecting strict dutch iGaming regulations visible and adequate age verification, falsely suggesting products are offered with a European license, and anonymous payment methods were among the reasons for increasing the fines.
Videoslots accused Kansspelautoriteit of “abusing the mystery shopping regime” in applying the sanction and suggested that the regulator “calculated the fine based on several guesstimates.” Videoslots has declared its intention to challenge the decision, labelling the sanction absurd and accusing the Dutch regulator of “acting unlawfully.”
René Jansen, Chair of the Kansspelautoriteit, emphasized that player safety is paramount and stated that the fines are meant to hit where it hurts the most – in the wallet – to impose an appropriate sanction given the illegal earnings.
These fines show that Kansspelautoriteit means business and is committed to protecting players by taking strict actions against those who do not comply with the country’s gambling laws. This is his comment: “We mean business. Player safety is paramount. A fine is to hit where it hurts, so in the wallet. With such amounts, we think we can impose an appropriate sanction, given the illegal earnings.”
