Netherlands senate approves remote gambling

After years of legalisation efforts, the Netherlands Senate approved remote gambling legislation on Tuesday.

René Jansen, chairman of the board of directors of Dutch Gaming Authority, Kanspelautoriteit (KSA), describes the Senate’s approval as a ‘milestone’.

‘The amendment of the Betting and Gaming Act enables the KSA to protect participants in online games of chance. This is not possible on an illegal market. With this modernization of the law it is better possible to enforce a safe game on a fair market. If players will at least play with a provider with a permit.’

Potential licensees will have to meet strict conditions including integration with the National exclusion register, monitoring for problem gambling behaviour, and the completion of a ‘reliability’ test on both company and systems.

Licensed operators will also be required to pay a 29.1 percent tax on gross revenues.

The Minister for Legal Protection, Sander Dekker, will decide when the Act comes in to force in consultation with the KSA.  Once licenses are awarded, illegal suppliers will be dealt with severely through a number of avenues as the Act gives the KSA extra powers, the authority said.  One of the measures the KSA will utilise will be payment services blocking.

Accompanying the new law, a proposal penned by Dekker implements a two-year cooling off period for those operators who have been active in the market or fined by the KSA.  The term “illegal operators” in the proposal refers to those who have actively targeted the Dutch market through either local payment instruments such as iDeal, advertising aimed at the Netherlands, or through use of a Dutch domain name. Although presently not clarified, it is believed that the cooling off period would begin once the newly adopted Bill is published.

Dutch consumers are reminded that online gambling remains illegal until the act comes into force and licenses have been issued, which is widely expected to be around the third quarter of 2020.

The only legal wagering currently available is sports betting through Toto, horse race betting through Runnerz and casino gaming at Holland Casino.

“We welcome the introduction of the law which will finally bring gambling regulation in the Netherlands into the 21st century and congratulate Minister Dekker on his efforts and commitment to regulate the sector,” Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) said.

“Online gambling is popular in the Netherlands and the current situation is neither justifiable nor tenable – because 1.8 million Dutch people are gambling online without regulatory protection under Dutch law. Our message is simple: it is in the interests of everyone to have a well-regulated market which protects players.

“For the new law to be a success, it must be supported by a licensing system which attracts enough companies to meet consumer demand and a tax regime that ensures that the regulated market remains competitive and attractive for Dutch players.”

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