Some of the Dutch laws relating to gambling date back as far as 1964, long before the Internet even existed. As such, they are currently woefully unequipped under existing legislature to regulate the online gambling sector in the Netherlands, which comprises offerings from both domestic operators and (frequently unlicensed) offerings from foreign brands.
The main gaming regulator of the Netherlands, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has recently redoubled its efforts to encourage the passing of a new Remote Gambling Act by the country’s Senate. There is currently no specific legal framework in the Netherlands for handling online gambling, and this has led to some concern in political circles as well as in the existing domestic industry.
One standout issue impacting both parties mentioned above is that of foreign operators, notably those based out of Dutch-speaking Curaçao, a Caribbean island which gained autonomy from the Netherlands in 2010 but remains a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Dutch government have fined Curaçao-based operators several times in recent years for allegedly illegally offering games to players in the Netherlands, but due to difficulties in locating such companies – which frequently operate in networks or obscured behind trust offices – only half a million of the €2.6 million levied in fines has ever been collected.
KSA chairman Jan Suyver has described their current predicament as being akin to trying to mop the floor with the tap open. But without renewing legislation, there’s very little more they can do. Last year, in fact, the government ordered the KSA to desist from targeting internationally licensed operators, in a case where regulators had sought to limit actions taken, by payment providers working with gambling operators, which they felt fell under the definition of “promotion” in the Betting and Gaming Act. The Council of State disagreed, stating that this was not stated in the existing law “accurately, clearly and unequivocally”.
The KSA is seeking clarification of rules and practices for the regulation of remote gambling, as well as the creation of a central database of the country’s problem gamblers, in order to help protect these people further. Elections last year have prevented further progress from being made to this point, but there is some hope that, now the dust has settled, they’ll be able to move forwards with new legislation. The Netherlands is currently one of the only countries in Europe without clear established legislation for regulating online gambling.
