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The Dutch Remote Gambling Act Is Pushed Back But So Is The Ban Hammer
By Shane Addinall Jun 23, 2020 LegalityThe January 2020 Remote Gambling Act launch for the Netherlands has been delayed indefinitely. The KSA is implementing a gambling exclusion program called Cruks. Banned casinos will see their ban extended in keeping with the delayed opening of the market.As more online gambling operators looked to diversify their operations across Europe, post the loss of the USA and then the restrictions placed on Australia, one of the shining stars were the Dutch market.
With the ability to speak to the players in both Dutch and English, and with the drawcard of a hyper localised deposit method, iDeal, it soon became a favoured market for online gambling even though it was not a regulated market.
To throw a spanner in the works the government did ban unregulated casinos from promoting their services in the Netherlands in Dutch. They also placed a moratorium on when gambling advertising could be aired, which by December 2019 saw ads banned from television from 6am to 9pm.
Why Play Ball with the KSA?
Unregulated gambling operators rarely abide by arbitrary restrictions unless enforced through the restriction of deposit methods or the threat of legal action, so why would they comply now?
Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), took the carrot and stick combo approach to enforcing their rulings. They officially announced that the Netherlands would be opening its doors to licenced online gambling, however, any operator not abiding by the KSA’s requirements in the interim would face a two-year licence application ban.
Such a ban would only begin once the market opened for applications and put any serious operators at a massive disadvantage once the market regulated.
No Light At The End of The Tunnel
At the beginning of 2020, these patient operators finally saw the finish line in sight as the Netherland’s Remote Gambling Decree was set to take effect early in the year. However due to the impact of the global pandemic both on the economy and on the ability for the necessary meetings and agreements to take place this is no longer the case.
Unfortunately given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the virus and the fact that there is a concern that allowing an open remote gambling market at this time could lead to problem gambling behaviours no date has been fixed for implementing the act.
The closest we have to a timeline is the comment made by Sander Dekker, the Minister for Legal Protection, who quantified the vague comments around how long such a delay could take as “a few months”.
The Frying Pan Moved With The Fire
For those less reputable operators who believed this push back would mean that their two-year ban would somehow bee lessened, given it was meant to begin when the licensing process began, the KSA has been very clear that the cool-down period will now also be pushed to back to ensure that banned groups receive a full two-year exclusion from the active market.
Getting CRUKS Into Shape
During this extended pre-launch period, the KSA is focusing much of its attention on the clarification, systematisation and testing of the Central Register for the Exclusion of Games of Chance (Cruks).
Cruks is a key part of the Gambling Authority’s drive to ensure that while the online gambling market in the Netherlands will be profitable for the operators and the government it also ensures the protection of at-risk players.
From June 25th 2020 a digital desk will open to answer all operators questions relating to their Cruks integration, there will also be video conferences explain the requirements and a testing environment is currently available allowing operators to test that their setup meets the requirements of their licence.
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