KSA chief promises to continue charge against unlicensed operators

Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) chief Rene Jansen has reaffirmed the regulator’s ambition to come down hard on illegal operators as the market is set for an upcoming ban on all untargeted advertising on 1 July. 

In a blog post on the KSA website, Jansen said it was important the regulator maintained its concentration on the black market following the focus on the regulated arena in recent weeks.

Jansen noted operators who comply with regulation must have their commitment rewarded, and that fines for unlicensed firms were needed to punish those not taking part in the regulated market.

Jansen also added that the current fine system, implemented when the market went live in October 2021, has been working well.

Under this system, basic fines are set at around 4% of turnover for those firms with a turnover of over €15m (£13m). The KSA can also issue periodic penalty payments, which Jansen said “is enough for many illegal providers to have them go off the air immediately”. 

Jansen reflected on the largest crackdown the KSA had implemented when it issued seven operators with fines totalling €28m. 

He commented: “These seven [operators] were imposed the first fines based on [estimated] turnover. We want to hit companies where it hurts, in the wallet, and these fines certainly do. Two cases involved fines of more than €12m and almost €10m.

“One of these parties had already been fined but had chosen to continue the illegal activities and thus repeated the previous violation. The other party incorrectly showed the word mark of the Gaming Authority on its website. It is precisely this word mark that should help players determine whether they are dealing with a legal [operator], so we take that violation very seriously.”

Jansen also lifted the lid on the KSA’s approach to tackling illegal firms, which has caused concern in some corners regarding its ‘mystery shopper’ approach which led to Videoslots being hit with a seven-figure–fine.

He remarked: “In order to tackle these big fish, we regularly look at website data and the number of players with a Dutch IP address, and we give priority to the parties that attract the most Dutch players.”

Jansen also reassured players in the Netherlands that the regulator is working hard to protect them.

He said: “We want people in the Netherlands to be assured of a safe range of games when gambling online and to be protected against excessive participation and gambling addiction. In addition, we want it to continue to pay off for licensed providers to incur costs for applying for and maintaining their licences. 

“Naturally, we remain keen to ensure that licence holders actually live up to this ‘playing it safe’ approach in practice. You have to earn a licence from the Gaming Authority and live up to it every day.”

“That starting point is extremely important for a safe market. We monitor that. In addition, we contribute to this by tackling illegal threats from outside, which continuously prey on players in the legal market. Crime should not pay,” Jansen concluded.