Dutch regulator taking a tougher line with unlicensed operators

The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit has announced that it is to take a tougher line with unlicensed online operators who access Dutch punters, intensifying enforcement and imposing substantially heavier fines on offenders.

The current policy of warning offenders and giving them an opportunity to block Dutch players will be dropped in favour of immediate pursuit and prosecution, with fines significantly increased to up to Euro 820,000 depending on the severity of the contravention.

Meanwhile the seemingly interminable and lugubrious progress of online gambling licensing legislation continues in the Dutch parliament; the Dutch Lower House approved the bill earlier this year and it went to the Senate, where it continues to generate debate and questions and is unlikely to emerge this year.

Once approved, the implementation process is likely to impose further delays on a regulatory political project that has been literally running for years.

Kansspelautoriteit spokesmen have on several occasions reported that there is keen interest among online gambling companies in obtaining licensing to operate in the Netherlands…when the politicians and bureaucrats finally get around to making legalised online gambling a reality in the country.

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