The Dutch Remote Gambling Act Faces Yet Another Delay

The Dutch gambling market is a vibrant one which has for flourished over the years despite the Netherlands not having a formalised policy governing online gambling. To date, international operators were free to pedal their wares in the Netherlands as long as they did not do so in Dutch.

The market itself drove much of the behaviour it deemed agreeable by simply voting with its money. One such example is that any operator looking to do business in the market without offering iDeal as a banking option would be hard-pressed to find players willing to sign up regardless of how attractive the welcome bonus was.

 Play to the Whistle

Where the Netherlands stands apart from many of its counterparts in the European Union is that while they recognise the financial potential of a licenced market, they have not sacrificed getting it right for short term gain.

To this end, we recently saw Sander Dekker, the Minister for Legal Protection of the Ministry of Justice and Security, reveal that the Dutch gambling market opening has been delayed by two months.

Originally scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2021, the Remote Gambling Act (Koa) will now only trigger in March 2021, a full 60 days later. Given the 6 month lull between activation and the market opening, both Dutch gamblers and licenced operators will have to wait until September 1st to enjoy the fruits of licenced online gambling in the region.

 Benefits of a Regulated Market

The Dutch government have a lot of faith in their people in terms of making good decisions around online gambling, however, they are powerless to intervene in cases of ill-treatment, false advertising or non-payment of winnings.

Under the newly minted Koa, the Gaming Authority (Ksa) will have the power to assist players with queries and hold operators to the highest standards of fair play and integrity through stringent financial and technological controls.

 Getting to the “Cruks” of the Matter

In order to protect their citizens from gambling addiction, all operators will defer to the Central Register of Exclusion of Betting Games (Cruks) before allowing any wagers to placed. Cruks will be the driving force behind player protection at both online casinos and land-based gambling venues such as arcades and casinos.

Cruks is one of the few registers where online casinos can submit a problem player to the database without their consent or receiving approval from the players family. This is considered an “involuntary registration” and if approved by the Ksa will result in a 6-month ban for the player.